Description
James Duke was known as the ‘father of Cooroy’ and the first building in Cooroy, a portable timber office, was owned by James Duke, who had a timber camp there from 1891, long before the township developed. From this timber camp, Duke managed the timber interests of Dath, Bartholomew & Co., (also known as Dath Henderson’s sawmill), one of the major early sawmills in the Tewantin area, situated on the north shore of the Noosa River.
In 1910, Duke was elected Chairman of the newly constituted Shire of Noosa and continued to serve as a Councillor for the following few years, before retiring ca 1916. In ca 1913, Duke built the house on his land on the North Shore and it is significant for its historical connections to the early development of the region and James Duke.
