Pimpama Railway Station, c.1910
Bora rings
The Gold Coast suburb of Pimpama has a rich Aboriginal cultural heritage and history. An example of this is a bora ring that has long been known to be located within Pimpama, near Yawalpah Road. Bora rings were earthen structures built by Aboriginal people; they were used for ceremonies, learning, and traditional practices, and are most well known for their role in initiation ceremonies. There is great variation between bora rings within south eastern Queensland, but they generally consist of two or three concentric, different sized rings. The larger ring would typically have a diameter of 20-30 metres, and the smaller between 10-15 metres. The perimeters are defined by a raised earthen border, with a cleared area in the middle that was stamped until firm. Pathways connecting the rings varied widely in length and could be as long as several hundred metres.
The larger ring was more public and could be used by all members of a group, whereas the smaller rings were reserved for men or initiates. Bora rings were important ceremonial sites, where initiates would undergo sacred rites to pass from boyhood to manhood, and they hold great Aboriginal cultural heritage significance. Even when bora rings are destroyed, as is the case with the Pimpama bora rings, their significance ensures that their location and history continue in recordings and memory.
Sugaropolis
Men cutting sugar cane in the Albert District, Queensland, 1890s
There was a boom in sugar growing in the Pimpama area from the 1870s through to the 1880s, driven by growing world demand. By the 1880s, the term 'Sugaropolis' was used to describe the new sugarcane driven economy.
The use of South Sea Islanders as labour for sugar growing, raised heated debate over the establishment of an American-style plantation society which was based on slavery.
Early maps show that parts of Pimpama were low-lying and swampy and would have required considerable effort to clear and drain for planting of sugarcane plantations. Broad-scale clearing of native forest to create plantation estates led to increased incidence of frost, and by the 1870s, extensive frost damage to cane crops had severely impacted the industry.
In the 1880s land was resumed from the Pimpama plantation to form the railway corridor that became part of the larger South Coast railway line, formerly known as the Tweed railway line. The first railway station at Pimpama operated from 1889 until 1964. In 2017, the site was identified for construction of the Pimpama station, one of three new stations on the Gold Coast line to be built by the Cross River Rail Delivery Authority.