page_title: Woongoolba, Queensland
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Woongoolba, Queensland / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Woongoolba, 2014
context_page_description: Woongoolba is a coastal rural locality in the northern part of City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
context_section_description: In the late 1800s, the farming district located between the Pimpama River and the Logan River called Pimpama Island and encompasses the modern localities of Jacobs Well, Norwell, Steiglitz and Woongoolba. It was referred to as an island because there were a number of lagoons and swamps that isolated the area during the wet season; however, this disadvantage made it good land for growing sugar cane.
  The name Woongoolba is believed to be an Aboriginal word for the geebung tree.
  The district was predominantly settled by German immigrants who arrived in the period 1864–1900.
  The Pimpama Island Provisional School opened on 17 April 1876 under the direction of teacher Joseph Schindler with 13 pupils (of German parentage). It became Pimpama Island State School on 7 September 1898. It was renamed Woongoolba State School in 1930. Additional classrooms and a library were built in 1941, with further expansions in 1991, 1997 and 2010.
  The Rocky Point Sugar Mill was established by Carl Heinrich Heck in 1878 on Mill Road (and crosses the boundary between Woongoolba and Steiglitz). Despite being one of the oldest sugar mills in Australia, it is still privately owned by the Heck Group. There were once other sugar mills in the area, but they have now closed and Rocky Point has expanded to replace their lost capacity.
  The Bethlehem Lutheran church was established in 1882; it is still operating in 2014.
  In the 2011 census, Woongoolba had a population of 460 people.
caption: Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Woongoolba, 2014
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