Before Yeppoon, There Was Bald Hills!
Today, Yeppoon is one of Queensland’s best-known coastal towns but the name we know today has a fascinating history.
Back in the 1860s, residents of inland Rockhampton were looking for a coastal watering place where they could escape the heat.
In 1867, Rockhampton residents petitioned the Surveyor-General to establish a coastal town site. Government surveyors examined the coast and identified a location recorded as “Yapoon”, described as being north of Emu Park and suitable as a watering place.
Then, on 30 April 1868, a Town Reserve known as Bald Hills was proclaimed as a watering place for Rockhampton.
So where did the name Yeppoon come from?
THE NAME HAS ABORIGINAL ORIGINS
Queensland Places records that the name Yeppoon is thought to have been derived from an Aboriginal word describing a place where waters join, possibly referring to the mouth of Ross Creek and Yeppoon Inlet.
The area is on the traditional lands of the Darumbal people.
But there is an important caution here.
The exact original Aboriginal word, its pronunciation and its meaning are not certain. Early European surveyors recorded Indigenous words using English spelling, and Queensland Government notes that this process could alter pronunciation and obscure the original forms of words.
That helps explain why historical records contain different forms, including Yapoon and Yeppoon.
FROM BALD HILLS TO YEPPOON
Queensland Places records that the area was later renamed Yeppoon.
The township was surveyed in 1872, but development was initially slow. Nearby Emu Park, proclaimed a town reserve in 1869, proved more popular with Rockhampton residents as a seaside destination.
Yeppoon instead developed gradually through farming, pastoralism and settlement in the surrounding district.
By the early 1880s, the township was beginning to grow, with holiday cottages, a hotel and other buildings appearing as its popularity increased.
So the next time you see the Yeppoon sign, remember that the story behind the name reaches back to the earliest years of European surveying in the district and to a much older Indigenous connection with the landscape.
Bald Hills. Yapoon. Yeppoon.
Three names that help tell the story of how this part of the Capricorn Coast developed.
SOURCES: Queensland Places - Yeppoon, Queensland Places - Livingstone Shire, Queensland Government - Place Names: Indigenous languages and their relevance to place naming, Queensland Government - Queensland Place Names Database, Queensland Heritage Register - Yeppoon historical records
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