[1] The Beenleigh Rum Distillery on the banks of the Albert River was licensed in 1884 and utilised molasses from sugar grown and crushed in the area.

The town of Beenleigh developed consequent to the growth of sugar related industries in the area and took its name from the plantation that the preceded the establishment of the distillery.

Timbergetters in search of cedar and hardwoods moved into the district around 1840, but the first European settlers took up land in 1864 under the Sugar and Coffee regulations, a government scheme to encourage the growing of these potentially valuable crops in the new colony of Queensland.

[1] Sugar cane had been first brought to Australia in 1788 but subsequent plantings at Sydney, Port Macquarie and Norfolk Island failed to be commercially viable.

By 1867 an estimated 2,000 acres (810 ha) were under cane in the Brisbane area and by the end of the decade, cane had also been successfully established further north at Maryborough, Mackay and Bundaberg, where the warmer climate proved more suitable, and sugar was established as a major commercial crop in Queensland.

[1] An area of land between the Albert and Logan Rivers was planted with cane in 1865 by the partnership of Francis Gooding and John Davy.

Its licence was not renewed in 1872 as it did not fulfil the requirement to carry cane-crushing equipment and acted solely as a distillery, producing rum from molasses.

This is then boiled and the alcohol vapour separated out by distillation, the condensate being collected, perhaps charcoal filtered, and stored in casks to mature.

The boom in sugar in the region in the 1870s led to the rapid development of the nearby township that took its name from the Beenleigh plantation.

By 1876 this was described by Baillière's Gazetteer as a provincial centre serving an area with nine sugar mills and two distilleries within six kilometres of the township.

In 1883 the boat was beached on the banks of the Albert River and Francis Gooding purchased its still, obtaining a distillery licence in June 1884.

The price of sugar fell in 1884 and this may have had some bearing on the decision to include distilling in the partnership's operations The Beenleigh distillery had 9,877 imperial gallons (44,900 L; 11,862 US gal) of rum on hand by 31 March 1885.

The Post Office Directory for that year lists three distilleries in the area: Ageston, Davy and Gooding, and the Loganholme Sugar Company.

[1] In the 1890s milling had become a more specialised process due to technical advances and many of the smaller plantations closed following the recession of this era.

In 1912, a new title was issued for the land in the name of Albert Kleinschmidt and in 1917 Thomas Brown and Sons Ltd purchased the business, which operated as the Beenleigh Rum Distillery Pty Ltd. Browns made many changes including the installation of eight large kauri pine vats, remodelling and enlarging the stills and upgrading other machinery.

In 1936 the distillery was described as having its own landing and unloading wharf, a complete power plant, cooper's shop and all necessary facilities to make it a self-contained producer of rum.

Being the shrewd business woman she is, she purchased additional land adjacent to the distillery, which underwent major redevelopment and renovation works.

The floor of the spirit store was excavated and two higher sections were inserted into the roof of the still house, which was painted the bright red it is now.

[1] Modern continuous distillation columns were added to the still house and new fermentation vats were installed with metal walkways constructed to access their upper levels.

[1] A number of distillery buildings were constructed in the 1990s including a large machinery canopy (1992), a warehouse and bottling hall and offices (1994).

Water breached the main distillery building affecting the electrical cabling inside and stopping production for 6 months.

The Beenleigh Rum distillery is located on an area of level ground on the bank of the Albert River at Eagleby.

[1] The still house is built of timber with sections of wall in English bond brick and has a concrete floor.

[1] Beenleigh Rum Distillery was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 6 March 2004 having satisfied the following criteria.

The sugar industry has been of great importance to the development of Queensland for its contribution to the economy and to the pattern of European settlement.