Lahey's Canungra Sawmill Complex

Hidden away in the scenic town of Canungra, are remnants of the Lahey family’s 1884 Canungra sawmill. The sawmill site behind the Christie Street shops is not recommended for public access. The Laheys already operated a sawmill at Waterford, but the wealth of the timber resources around Canungra led to the establishment of a new mill. Timber from throughout the region was brought to the mill via a private tramway built between 1901 and 1903, and later transported from Canungra to Brisbane on the government railway line, which opened in July 1915. Canungra township was surveyed by the Lahey family in 1915 and allotments offered for sale complete with timber cottages, many of which remain. The mill changed hands between 1921 and 1933 and the timber industry collapsed by 1935. Despite the involvement of the Lahey family in the depletion of local timber resources, they were actively involved in forest conservancy. Romeo Lahey along with Robert Collins initiated the declaration of the Lamington National Park in 1915. David Lahey, Romeo’s father, had been a councillor for the Tamborine Shire Council which declared the first national park on the western escarpment in 1908, named Witches Falls by the local school children.