Woody Point

Woody Point, a Moreton Bay suburb at the southern end of the Redcliffe peninsula, is 25 km north-east of central Brisbane. The iron-impregnated point was observed by Matthew Flinders in July 1799, who named it Red Cliff Point (hence 'Redcliffe' further north).

Much of the peninsula was subdivided into farm lots in the early 1870s, but settlement was sparse. The construction of the peninsula's first significant jetty at Woody Point (1882), the place closest to Sandgate, brought about some development. Visitors and holiday-makers came by a weekly ferry service to stay at the St Leonards Hotel; the St Leonards Estate faced Moreton Bay, north of Woody Point.

Closeness to Sandgate was not everything, however, as the northern beaches had better stretches of sand than the Woody Point coast which was affected by erosion and mud from Pine River. Development was shared with Margate and Redcliffe. The post office directory of 1901 recorded the Great Western Hotel (1883), three boarding houses, a school, a butcher and a store at Woody Point. In 1925 there were also the Belvedere and Woody Point Hotels and a picture show in one of the boarding houses. The Great Western had been renamed the Palace, to be operated for 75 years by the Filmer family until 2002. There were also a land agent, a Church of England and a few farmers and fruitgrowers.

Woody Point was the first stopping place after crossing Bramble Bay on the Hornibrook Highway (1935). It tended to draw people with less money to spend, and a popular outing might be fish and chips on the foreshore, which was also a camping area. Whilst the cinema was in Margate, the school of arts memorial hall had community events such as the Woody Point Harmony Singers.

Clontarf Beach, to the west of Woody Point had the distinction of a bathing pavilion and shark-proof swimming enclosure (1938). The Peninsula Country Golf Club also distinguished Clontarf from Woody Point, although before the 1950s they were designated as one locality.

Residential redevelopment - apartments and units - was concentrated around the Redcliffe and Scarborough beaches in the 1980s-90s, but by the 2000s developers reconsidered Woody Point. The Belvedere Hotel was refurbished and considerable foreshore sprucing up was done.

Woody Point has a Catholic primary school (2002), a State special school (1978), a bowling club, a generous foreshore reserve, a beach immediately west of Flinders' 'red cliffs' and the jetty, shops in Oxley Avenue and a coastal arboretum north east of the 'cliffs'.

Woody Point's census populations were: