The hinterland’s ranges were created by volcanic eruptions 25 to 30 million years ago. Changing sea levels shaped coastal waterways and beaches between 6,000 and 10,000 years ago.

The local Aboriginal people, the Gubbi Gubbi, lived around Noosa until conflicts with Europeans at Lake Weyba and Teewah in the late 19th century resulted in their displacement. Some descendants still live in the region.

Captain James Cook explored the coast in 1770, naming the Glasshouse Mountains and Double Island Point. The Noosa River and hinterland were explored in the early 1800s when a penal colony was established at Moreton Bay in 1824 and 1859 when Queensland was founded. The Gympie gold rush of 1867 attracted large numbers of hopeful settlers.

Local industries

The local timber industry boomed in the late 1800s. Mill Point at Lake Cootharaba, once a timber town, is now an archaeological site. Tewantin was the first large town on the Noosa River and was serviced by coastal shipping and Cobb & Co coaches from the 1870s. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, the road network developed and railway lines were laid from Nambour to Gympie. Towns such as Cooroy, Pomona and Kin Kin were settled and agricultural industries expanded.

Noosa Heads was briefly an Aboriginal Mission area in the 1870s. Hastings Street and environs were surveyed in 1879 and the first guesthouses opened soon after. Noosa Heads Surf Club launched in 1928 and the road from Tewantin opened in 1929.

Noosa Shire, home to approximately 2500 inhabitants, was proclaimed on 10th March 1910. Its administrative headquarters were at Pomona until 1982, when Council transferred to Tewantin.

Until the 1970s the shire was predominately rural with some local tourism business. With increased urban growth and mass tourism, the population had trebled by 1981 from 6000 to 18,000. Noosa now has a population close to 50,000.

Protecting the local environment

Noosa and its community has protected its natural environment and resisted proposed sand mining and over-development by creating significant areas of national park. Noosa Council has implemented sustainability planning policies such as traffic management, limits on high-rise buildings and population density.

New administrative structures

In 2007 the Queensland Government decided that Noosa Council would be amalgamated with Caloundra and Maroochydore to form a metropolitan-style Sunshine Coast Regional Council. The new Council will commence operations in March 2008 with the people of Noosa committed to ensuring that Noosa retains its own distinctive appeal.

A Biosphere Reserve

Noosa's ongoing commitment to managing its development while protecting the natural environment has been recognised by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). The entire local government area was declared a Biosphere Reserve at a meeting in Paris, France, in September 2007.