Burnside, a rural/residential suburb immediately south-west of Nambour, was named after a farm selection (1881) of that name. The Burnside farmhouse was west of the present day Rotary Village. Families could send their children to the Nambour School or the Perwillowen school (1916-59) further west. Farms grew sugar cane and tropical fruit, and the Burnside Dairy (1920s) was a local milk deliverer.
A Burnside store (1960s) signified the beginning of commercial development, and the Burnside primary and high schools (1978, 1979) and St John's Catholic College (1979) were opened to serve the growing population of Nambour. A TAFE was opened in 1982, followed by the Sunshine Coast Mail Centre (1984) and a local post office (1988). Burnside also has a residential area immediately west of Petrie Creek, together with a sports reserve, an indoor sports complex and three churches.
The census populations for Burnside have been:
| Census Date | Population |
|---|---|
| 1933 | 90 |
| 1961 | 64 |
| 2006 | 1601 |
| 2011 | 1948 |
Barbara Want and Daphne Heaton, The Burnside-Perwillowen Story, Nambour, Maroochy Shire Council, 1992
