Kureelpa is a rural/residential area six km west of Nambour on the road to Mapleton in the Blackall Range. It is thought that the name derives from an Aboriginal expression describing a native rat or mouse.
The south arm of the Maroochy River and several tributaries flow through Kureelpa, and sugar cane selectors settled there in the 1880s. They settled not only along the watercourse valleys, but further up in the ranges on hilly slopes. In about 1900 a cane tramway was built from the Moreton sugar mill, Nambour, to Mapleton, passing near the Kureelpa public hall (1906). It was apparent by 1910 that the upper slopes were less suitable for sugar growing, and it was gradually replaced by dairying. The Caboolture butter factory (1907) probably encouraged the change, which was almost complete by 1944 when the tramway closed. The post office directory in 1949 recorded 15 dairy farmers and 2 other farmers in Kureelpa.
In 1975 Kureelpa was chosen as the site for the Blackall Range Independent School (P-10), at first using the hall and the old one-room State primary school (1914-67). Since then the former dairy farms have been subdivided for rural/residential living.
Kureelpa's census populations have been:
Census Date | Population |
---|---|
1911 | 50 |
1952 | 72 |
2006 | 982 |
2011 | 851 |