Sheldon is largely a semi-rural area, with expansive tracts of bushland providing a haven for wildlife. Much of the suburb lies in the catchment area for Leslie Harrison Dam and therefore is protected.
Location
Lifestyle
Residents choosing to live in Sheldon enjoy a quiet bushland lifestyle, yet they are just minutes from the schools and busy commercial hubs in Capalaba and Victoria Point.
Its major features are the substantial conservation areas – the Brisbane Koala Bushlands, Emu Street Bushland Reserve, Ford Road Conservation Area and Summit Street Reserve.
Shopping
The closest major shopping precinct is at Capalaba.
Schools and colleges
Sheldon College, on Taylor Road, is an independent, co-educational, non-denominational school. The nearest state schools are at Capalaba.
Getting around
Sheldon’s nearest train stations are at Cleveland and Birkdale. Transdev Queensland operates regular bus services.
History
Sheldon was initially known as Upper Tingalpa, and was largely unpopulated by settlers until the 20th Century. Many of the first people to live in the area had a fairly subsistence living, and recall in the 1950s that bathing was often done in the creek and water had to be boiled in a copper tub for the laundry. It wasn’t uncommon for men to have work in multiple tasks to make ends meet; farming, delivering creek water and sawing timber.
Often while they were building their more permanent humpy, residents had lived in shelters simply made by hammering flattened tins to saplings. Nails hammered through bottle tops became roofing nails; ant’s nests broken up and mixed with water made a thick paste was spread out to make a floor. It dried like concrete. Five pound (2.5 kg) flour bags were stuffed with rags, then they would be sewn together in a large square, to make a kind of doona called a “Wagga rug”, which had a calico slip cover over it. They also used the flour bags to make curtains, pillow cases and underwear.
Find out more through the Redlands Coast History library catalogue.
Your councillor
Sheldon is in Division 9 (Cr Adelia Berridge).
More information
Visit the popular parks in Redlands
View Sheldon-Mount Cotton's national regional profile (Australian Bureau of Statistics)