Student Resources

The main reason Bankfoot House exists is because of Cobb & Co and the Gympie Gold Rush. Without these outside influences Bankfoot House may have just been another old house on the Sunshine Coast that was knocked down for development instead of being preserved as it has been for almost 150 years. The history of Bankfoot House is what makes it so special. Bankfoot House provided a service for the travellers and crew of Cobb & Co until 1879, when the coach contract was won by McCallum's coaches. After Cobb & Co came to an end Bankfoot House continued on as an accommodation house and family home.

Cobb & Co crisscrossed all over Queensland but the most famous route ran from Brisbane to Gympie. Before Cobb & Co took passengers along this route, people travelled to Gympie by steam boat, it wasn’t until early 1868 that a new route was funded. This new route was first travelled on the 12th of November 1868 by Hiram Barnes, an experienced Cobb & Co coach driver.

Cobb & Co was the main form of transport from Brisbane to Gympie and it also delivered the mail to appropriate centres, like Bankfoot House. Coaches ran past Bankfoot House up until 1890, when a steam-train line was constructed through the North Coast to accommodate the needs of the growing Glasshouse region. After the railway was built Bankfoot House remained the post office until 1910. The post office was then passed on to the railway station at Glasshouse.