Download coordinates as: Burleigh Heads is a coastal suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.

The north-eastern part of the suburb is a narrow coastal area bounded to the north-east by the Coral Sea and includes Burleigh Head.

[9][4] The area of Burleigh Head was formed between 20 and 23 million years ago from molten lava due to numerous eruptions of Mount Warning.

Flowing lava reached the shore in the area to form Burleigh headland and Point Danger.

[citation needed] Indigenous Australians inhabited the area of Burleigh Heads for thousands of years prior to European settlement.

On 27 May 1872 the Queensland Government announced the sale of town lots in Burleigh would take place on 2 July 1872 at the Lands Office in Beenleigh.

[18][19] On 2 April 1873 at the Lands Office in Beenleigh a further 40 suburban lots mostly about 1 acre (0.40 ha) were offered for sale.

[20] By 1873, the township had been surveyed, a number of the allotments sold and a track created connecting Burleigh Heads to Nerang.

[21] References to its magnificent beach were starting to appear and reports in newspapers suggested that Burleigh Heads' natural beauty had the potential to eclipse all other seaside locations in the region.

A map advertising the auction shows the estate to be fronting the Esplanade and close to Nerang Creek.

The headmaster Frederick Perrett proposed that the school be "temporarily" moved to the recently-built Church of England Hall.

[38] On Sunday 22 August 1926, Bishop Henry Le Fanu dedicated a wooden Anglican church hall in Burleigh Heads.

[41] Methodism commenced in Burleigh Heads when Reverend J. Bean held services on the beach in 1923, which were discontinued owing to the noise of the surf, in favour of using a number of private homes and other venues such as Fradgley's open-air theatre.

The pulpit and communion rail were erected by friends in memory of Reverend Henry Youngman; it was designed by architect Lange Powell and constructed by James Campbell & Sons.

[45] The first Presbyterian services in Burleigh Heads were held in the house Braemar, the home of Mrs Margaret Black in Park Avenue in 1926.

Land in West Street was purchased in October 1928 for the Presbyterian Church of Queensland with the financial assistance of William Robert Black and the leadership of Alexander Mayes.

[46][47][48] The commercial centre of James and Conner Streets was established by the 1930s and began to boom during the postwar period.

[49] The landmark row of Norfolk Pines along the Burleigh esplanade were planted by local shopkeepers, the Justins family, in 1934.

[citation needed] The De Luxe Theatre was built by William Fradgley and opened on Wednesday 15 October 1930.

World War II was a boom time for the cinema as there were camps for both Australian and American army personnel in the area.

In August 2019, the complex and an adjacent building were sold for about $18.5 million, which the short-term intention of continuing its current operations but with a long-term view of redeveloping the site.

[53][54] On 8 January 1933, the foundation stone of the Infant Saviour Catholic Church was laid by Archbishop James Duhig on land which had been purchased in 1926 on the south-western corner of Connor Street and Park Avenue (28°05′25″S 153°27′05″E / 28.0904°S 153.4513°E / -28.0904; 153.4513 (Infant Saviour Catholic Church (former))).

It was reopened on 27 January 1953 by the Missionary Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception and closed in 1973 when it was replaced by Marymount Catholic Primary School.

[37] The northern section of Burleigh Beach appears to have been subdivided by the mid-1950s, but was the site of extensive sand mining in the following decades.

Falling student numbers resulted in the infants closing on 3 July 1989 to be re-integrated back into the main school.

The other top responses for country of birth were New Zealand 6.8%, England 4.6%, Brazil 0.9%, Scotland 0.8%, South Africa 0.6%.

A bus service connects Burleigh Heads with the Gold Coast Airport, Tweed Heads, Robina and Broadbeach Major construction commenced in July 2022 to extend the existing G:link tram to Burleigh Beach from Broadbeach, expected to be completed late 2025.

At the headland of Burleigh, locally known as "The Point", barbecues and cricket matches are held, and spectators can watch the surfers.

On Sunday afternoons, local musicians and fire-twirlers often come out to the park beside Burleigh SLSC for a jam and dance session.