Mapleton, Queensland

The second highest town on the Blackall Ranges, situated on the southern edge of the Blackall Range. Throughout this beautiful district, art and craft galleries abound, along with potteries, antique shops and museums. The village flanks the Mapleton National Park which is renowned for its rainforest picnic glades. Mapleton hosts the annual Yarn Festival when spinners of tall tales and true gather to celebrate the art of the Aussie bush balladeer.
Location: 90 km north of Brisbane; 436 m above sea-level. Mapleton is 10 minutes drive from Nambour, 25 minutes from Maleny and 30 minutes from Maroochydore.
Origin of name: Mapleton was first known as Blackall Range, then Luton Vale. It was renamed when a specific postal address was required in 1893 to replace Blackall Range. Reportedly, Mapleton was the name selected by local residents at the suggestion of one of their number, William Smith, who had read about "a pretty little place on top of a hill named Mapleton in England" in a contemporary novel. Mapleton is the name of a village in Derbyshire, but it is unknown whether it has any connection with the Qld name.
Brief history: The area was once occupied by the Bonyi Bonyi Aborigines (other sources say the Gubbi Gubbi or even the Kabi Kabi people), who once gathered at Baroon Pocket, on the banks of the Obi Obi River, to feast on Bunya nuts. The first European through the area was explorer Ludwig Leichhardt. In 1892 a postal receiving office was opened at a local farm house when the area was known as Luton. Two years later it was decided to name the postal site Mapleton, possibly after a village in Derbyshire, England.
Natural features: Mapleton Forest Reserve; Mapleton Falls; Delicia Road Conservation Park; Belli Park; Blackall Range
Heritage features: Mapleton Tavern; historic Seaview House (St Isidore's Farm College)