Chevron Island

Chevron Island was once a land-linked sand mass known as Goat Island. It was reshaped by sand pumping and developed into a residential estate in the 1950s. At the time, it was claimed to be the largest land reclamation scheme ever undertaken by a private developer in Queensland.Prior to its transformation into Chevron Island, Goat Island was uninhabited and used mainly for grazing cattle and market garden farmlets. From the late 1880s until 1925 the Meyer Ferry provided the only access for vehicles to Surfers Paradise and the southern beaches from just south of the island. It was even used by the famous Cobb and Co. coaches which crossed on the ferry and drove along the beach at low tide as part of the journey from Nerang to Coolangatta. The ferry was started by John Meyer (formerly Johann Meyer) (d 1901) a German immigrant and a celebrated pioneer in the Gold Coast region. He bought James Beattie’s land at Narrowneck in 1877, and developed a sugar plantation and mill there. He started the ferry, sometimes known as Meyer’s Ferry, as a private ferry service and introduced a coach service which brought passengers from Southport three times a week and ferried them across the river to the surf beach. He found this more lucrative than sugar. He also built Main Beach Hotel, which burnt down in 1893. Being only partially insured, he suffered heavy financial losses.