Once a sleepy township that characterises the rural hinterland of the Gold Coast, Mudgeeraba is today a suburb of the Gold Coast. Contained on an 'island' within the flood plain, its essential character remains one of a nineteenth century village despite the recent encroachment of housing estates to nearby land.

Location: 80 km south of Brisbane.

Points of Interest: Wallaby Hotel; Tokonoma Gallery and Green Tea House; Warrie Circuit; Best of All Lookout

The Windmill

The Windmill at Mudgeeraba was built as a retail out let for Mudgeeraba Spices and Curry Blends. It became home to the Windmill Restaurant in 2001 and remained until its closure 5 years later to allow the owners to concentrate on their spice business. Location: 410 Gold Coast Springbrook Road, Mudgeeraba.

Gold Coast War Museum

Over the past 40 years the Museum has grown to one of the largest collections of Militaria in Australia. It houses an interesting collection of Military items. Location: 42 John Rogers Rd, Mudgeeraba. Open Mon. - Sat. 9am - 4pm. Ph (07) 5530 5222.

Brief history

Mudgeeraba is remnant of the type of township that characterises the rural hinterland of the Gold Coast. Subdivision of land was conventional and buildings were traditionally rural or rural commercial. The Schmidt Farmhouse is typical of farms of that period in the district (the farmhouse is now in the adjacent suburb of Worongary).

Mudgeeraba, like other areas in the region, was an early centre for farming, timber getting and cattle grazing by the mid-1870s. It rose to some prominence with the coming of the railway from Brisbane to Tweed Heads in 1903. The station of the South Coast railway line was located near the present-day motorway entrance. In 1890, the Queensland State Government indicated that the railway station would be positioned as close to the township, located on Coach Road, as possible. Following the decision was made to position the railway station at some distance to the town, early residents acquired land nearby. Once the railway line was in operation the centre of the town was relocated to its present position. The railway was closed in 1961. The modern day Pacific Motorway largely follows the route of the former railway. The new Gold Coast railway opened on a different alignment from Brisbane to neighbouring Robina in 1998. Robina station is about 1.8 km further than the old Mudgeeraba railway station.

In the early 1930s during the Great Depression, the Upper Mudgeeraba Creek banks were the location of unemployment relief camps set up under the Income (Unemployment Relief) Tax Acts, 1930. The creek water helped sustain vegetable gardens for the residents, housed in timber and corrugated iron huts.[11] One aspect of the relief scheme put in place by the Queensland Government was to establish small banana plantations. In Upper Mudgeeraba, 300 acres divided into 50 blocks were made available to successful applicants to farm.

Origin of name: of Aboriginal origin, said to mean either "place where lies are told" or "low lying ground". The latter would be the more logical meaning.