CULBURRA BEACH

Culburra was originally called Wheeler’s Point after George Wheeler, one of the first landholders in the area. He owned 158 acres at Kinghorn Head (now Penguin Head) and some land around Lake Wollumboola.

In its early years the Culburra region was used for timber getting and sheep grazing, with a wool wash located near the boat ramp at Lake Wollumboola. Curley’s Bay was named after an Aboriginal shepherd who worked for Alexander Berry (see Coolangatta Estate).

The emerging coastal town at Wheeler’s Point had its name changed in 1916 to Culburra (from an Tharawal Aboriginal word meaning ‘sand’), by real estate developer Henry Halloran, who had purchased most of the land in the area the previous year.

Halloran had plans for a major settlement called St. Vincent City. Orient Point and Culburra were to be its first suburbs, and it was to have a railway connecting it to Canberra. Halloran was greatly influenced by Walter Burley Griffin’s layout of Canberra which accounts for the unusual semi-circular layout of roads in Culburra.

However, development proved to be slow, even though the district was becoming known as an enticing holiday area in the 1920s. So, in the early 1920s, Halloran built Culburra House, a 13-bedroom guesthouse, and a 9-hole golf course to attract visitors to the area. (During World War II, Culburra Guesthouse became uneconomical to run. It was sold in 1952 and was transported to Nowra for use as part of the Riverhaven Motel. In moving the house, the road to Nowra was damaged and Council sought £186.4.8 compensation (we’d be interested to learn whether they actually received any compensation).)

The lack of basic facilities was the main reason why the early development of the town was hindered. Fresh water had to be pumped from a well above Culburra Beach, electricity was not connected to the area until the 1950s and, until 1956, the road to Culburra was unsealed.

Only 70 dwellings had been erected in Culburra by 1960. This grew to around 120 by 1969. Most were low-cost holiday cottages. In 1976 a school opened. By 1978 there were 240 houses in the town.

Culburra Beach was the location of the quintessentially Australian photograph ‘Sunbaker’ by Max Dupain. It was taken in early January 1938 while Max and his friends were camping at Culburra Beach. The man in the photograph was Harold Salvage, a British builder, who was one of the group. It was a simple affair. We were camping down the south coast and one of my friends leapt out of the surf and slammed down onto the beach to have a sunbake – marvellous. We made the image and it's been around, I suppose as a sort of icon of the Australian way of life. — Max Dupain 

Image: The original ‘Sunbaker’. It was slightly altered (his clenched hand was opened up) in the more-familiar 1970s print.