Byron Bay History

Evolution-1900

The Northern Rivers region was carved out by a volcanic eruption that started about 20 million years ago. Its lava flow covered more than 5000 square kilometres in all directions, and about 100 kilometres out to sea, forming what is today the largest shield volcanic caldera in the Southern Hemisphere.

The original name for Mt Warning, the remnant plug of the volcano, is Wollumbin, which means 'cloud catcher'. It remains to be an important sacred site to the local Arakwal and Bundjalung people.

What we call Byron Bay was called 'Cavvanba' by the Bunjalong people, and it was the common territory at the junction of this large group's northern and southern tribes, the Minjangbal and the Arakwal.

Captain James Cook and his ship the Endeavour sailed past Australia 's most easterly point in May 1770. He named the headland Cape Byron and the striking mountain Mount Warning , to serve as a warning to seafarers traversing the treacherous reefs along the coast.

When white settlers first arrived in the region in the late 1840s, the area was surrounded by the Big Scrub, an area of subtropical rainforest that covered about 10,000 hectares. Within the 40 years to the turn of last century, most of this was cleared to make way for sugar cane, cattle and dairy farmers who took advantage of the rich alluvial deposits on the caldera floor.

Captain Rous named the Brunswick River to honour Queen Caroline of Brunswick (in Germany ) and it because the hive of timber harvesting when the cedar cutters first moved into to clear the area in 1850s.

Some of the early cedar cutters became the first permanent settlers in the Byron region in the 1860s and when legislation was passed in 1861 that enabled anyone to select a block of Crown land at one pound per acre, the first European land owners, known as 'selectors', settled in the area.

In1888, the post office was established. In the same year, a jetty was opened at Byron Bay and it quickly became a busy shipping centre to transport timber and agricultural products - although many ships became stranded or sunk.

In 1894, the name of the town changed from Cavanbah to Byron Bay and in 1894, the railway route between Lismore and Murwillumbah opened.

The 1320-foot jetty, which was built over two years from 1886 to 1888, stood at the end of Jonson Street .

1900-1945

In the first decade of the 20 th century, sporting, musical and other interest groups were founded and, as they and community infrastructure like hotels, stores and local media developed, Byron Bay grew into a town.

Construction of the lighthouse, which had begun in 1899, culminated in its opening in late 1901. It was regarded as a significant event in the district. A banquet was arranged and special trains carried visitors from Lismore and Murwillumbah for the opening by the premier - whose arrival was delayed. Bad weather in the waters off the Cape prevented the dignitaries from landing before dawn the day after the official proceedings were due to take place. This would not be the last time such official proceedings were disrupted by late arrivals, but the Byron locals quickly learned to party in the meantime as they waited for their guests.

The first stationmaster at the Byron Bay Railway Station was appointed in 1904 and the refreshment room (which is today the 'Rails Hotel') was opened in 1908.

When the Local Government Act was passed in 1906, the government appointed a provisional Council until the first elections later that year.

In 1906, the local newspaper of the time reported the arrival of the first party of tourists to visit the Brunswick Valley , although other reports suggest that travellers had arrived on foot much earlier.

The first letterboxes received mail in 1908 and, during the following year, the first telephone exchange opened with eight subscribers.

When World War I was raging in Europe, the population of Byron Bay had grown to 1500.

The first electricity to the town, powered by Mullumbimby's hydroelectric works in Wilsons Creek , was switched on in 1926.

Work on a new jetty was nearing completion in 1928 and it officially opened the following year. It was an important lifeline for the town, accommodating rail carriages that run along it and to the railway station.

Byron Bay weathered the storm of the 1930s depression better than most of Australia because of its butter and meat industries. Surprisingly, during the height of the depression, the meatworks re-opened after closing its doors seven years earlier and provided work to the unemployed.

During the 1930s and after World War II, the number of organisations, clubs and societies operating in the region continued to grow in number and were often the impetus for the development of community services like sporting fields, road improvements and sanitation.

1945-1960

Byron Bay enjoyed prosperity in the post-war years. Land values exploded and the town's culture pulse was thumping steadily. Literary events, theatre, cinema, musical recitals, concerts and dances were well attended, as were sporting events.

But in 1954 a cyclone demolished more than 600 feet of the jetty at Byron Bay , along with the local fishing fleet. It effectively annihilated the local fishing industry and as local historical documenter Maurice Ryan says 'wrote the obituary notice of Byron Bay as a sea port'. Parts of the town also flooded when the fierce winds cut through sands disturbed by mining - a legacy that can be witnessed today at Belongil Beach .

Fortunately, many locals took heed of nature's admonition and more progressive approaches to the environment were considered. Even before the arrival of hippies in the 1970s, Byron's local developers were expected to steer away from high-rise buildings.

The remnants of the old jetty had been removed in 1947. After the cyclone, the remainder of the new jetty was redecked and used for whaling, which emerged in the wake of the fishing industry's decline. The first whale was caught in 1954; only two years after Australia 's eastern seaboard whaling industry had commenced in Moreton Bay .

In the early days of the industry, whale oil was liquid gold. Whale meat was used to feed hungry pets.

But younger people might be surprised to learn that it was a relatively transient industry, although the decimation was undoubtedly dire. Within only eight years, whale numbers had plummeted and the industry was no longer sustainable. The Inspector of Whaling at Bryon, Stan Nolan, blamed the greed of competing nations in the Antarctic for their rapid decline in numbers. The curtain closed yet again on another Byron Bay industry.

1961-1983

The 'Save the Whale' campaign in the 1970s signalled the beginnings of a new fascination with Byron Bay . As the whale population slowly recovered after global opposition to their slaughter, people returned to the Cape to watch their annual migration. Whale watching started to be a vital part of the area's ecotourism.

Independent travellers were attracted to Byron for myriad reasons but the fertile environment and dramatic landscape were the first drawcards - just as they had been for the indigenous peoples thousands of years earlier.

In the early 60s, the first motels were built in Byron. One of the first was called the Surfside and was located on the site of the current Beach Hotel.

The Nimbin valley, which had been for thousands of years a special place for the Bundjalung peoples with its significant sacred sites, ceremonial grounds and initiation places, attracted the interest of a group of students from Canberra University .

At the time, Nimbin's economy was in decline after the UK ceased importing Australian butter.

The last butter was made at Byron Bay 's Norco factory in 1972. The Norco operation, which had produced its first butter in 1895 under the label 'BBB - Byron Bay Butter', had become synonymous with the town. The world was changing. While the brand still exists today, the company's most important legacy was as the foundation of what became a major national industry.

The Aquarius organisers approached the local Aboriginal elders to seek their permission to hold a festival in Nimbin. It signified an important step. The new thinkers' respect for the indigenous people, their land and their culture was not only fundamental to the value systems of these people but the genesis of what is today a widely - though not universally - held belief in the importance of reconciliation.

Students and hippies flocked to the area for the festival in 1973 and many just never left. Two decades of new settlers and alternative lifestylers began to repopulate the area and another set of pioneers established themselves around Mullumbimby and Mainarm. The commune, legally known as a multiple occupancy or 'MO', was conceived.

In place of the dairy industry, producers turned to new land uses to cultivate tropical fruit, macadamia and tea tree plantations while other land owners subdivided and built houses.

In the 1970s, it was not only those who pursued alternative lifestyles who started to open their eyes to the futility of environmental pollution.

The Thursday Plantation, so-called because it was the day its owner was granted a Crown Lease at Bungawalbyn, was established in 1976. It paved the way for yet another limelight industry in the region. However, alternative, complementary and bush medicine, along with organic growing, have so far proven to be more robust and sustainable than other industries with which the region's people have flirted.

1984-present day

As the Aquarius Festival pioneers matured, many started doing a new type of business. Today, many of these businesses have emerged as legitimate alternatives to commerce that are slowly bringing about shifts in the mainstream.

In the 80s, Nicholas Shand and his family moved back to their 'MO' in Mullumbimby from the UK and founded the Byron Echo with David Lovejoy. Today it is still independently owned and is the platform for discourse among those who want to protect the region from the pressure to conform to globalisation and big business.

In 1988, Thursday Plantation moved from the pristine wetlands of Bungawalbyn to degraded farmland north of Ballina. Now the leading tea tree oil producer in the world, the move represented a major land rehabilitation program because it showed how otherwise marginalised land could be put to good use.

Today, less than one percent of the subtropical rainforest that once formed the Big Scrub remains as isolated pockets in nature reserves and World Heritage listed National Parks. The new highway carves its way through the valleys, making Byron more accessible than ever before.

The independent travel grapevine is still a buzz with talk of the area, cementing its place as a destination for thousands of international backpackers and domestic voyagers - although many lament the loss of what was once a 'best kept secret'.

In the late 90s and early 21 st century, a new wave of settlers started moving to Byron Bay . They are the pioneers of the new knowledge era and networked economy. While many are people who do business and communicate over the Internet, a core group are also dedicated to getting back to basics. There are writers, artists and filmmakers. Digital media producers and content creators. Organic horticulturalists and bush food growers. Great chefs, cooks and pastry makers. Tourist operators and tranquil service staff. And those who are here to rest, reflect and recuperate.

It is apparent from reading the letters pages in the Echo, observing community and council debate, or even walking down the street, that locals and visitors alike still make up an incredibly diverse bouquet. But many share a common vision to manage the tide of change more sustainably and to treat the earth - and each other - with greater compassion and respect.

Virtual Byron is a taste of this. Enjoy it and take it with you wherever you go next.