City Libraries, City of Gold Coast

Aerial view of the surfing beach at Main Beach across to the Broadwater and Southport, Queensland, December 1966

Aerial view of the surfing beach at Main Beach across to the Broadwater and Southport, Queensland, December 1966

Note the Jubilee Bridge in middle. Construction of the new bridge on leftMuch of the land around Main Beach was unusable, as it was regaded as mosquito-infested mangrove swamp and sharks were known to cruise around the area, hence its name of Sharky Bay. In 1937, Bill Rankine began pumping sand to Main Beach to create the Rankine Estate. The outbreak of World War Two halted the pumping, and it was not until 1947 that it began again. By the time pumping finished in April 1951, two million cubic yards of sand had been pumped to form the estate. The subdivision failed because people were reluctant to build homes on sand, and the estate went into receivership. It was 1957 before the area started to sell. (Information source: A. McRobbie, The Surfers Paradise story, c1982, pp. 50, 83).