MALENY
Maleny is a small country town in the
high country in the hinterland of the Sunshine Coast. The drive to
Maleny from Landsborough is a steep but safe incline. Maleny is an old
town, but most of that heritage has been lost to development. The town
has a strong wealth profile.
Prior to European settlement, the
area was covered in thick sub-tropical rainforest with huge hardwood
trees. Timber-getters in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries opened
up the area seeking valuable timber, which was prized locally and in
Europe. Heavy logging led to the almost complete denuding of the
rainforest clad hills in the district around Maleny.
The first European to document
Maleny was the explorer Ludwick Leichardt who describes the area in
his travel diary in 1844. The first European settlement followed in
the wake of the Gympie gold rush of 1867. Maleny was a timber town
until the early 1920s and then was a centre of dairy production with a
butter factory which declined in the 1960s.
The Maleny churches are of the
modern era and design.
The War Memorial is near the creek
and opposite the Hotel.
The Maleny Hotel is an ‘old’ hotel.
Maleny is a great place to visit
when touring the Glass House loop of towns.
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