The entire area of Cribb Island, which was about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) long and 400 metres wide, was built essentially on a mud flat that faced Moreton Bay.
[3] In the 1970s, the land was resumed by the Australian Government to expand the Brisbane Airport's capability for the larger jets ('Heavies') used in international flights.
[4][5] Cribb Island also gave its name to a local variety of marine worm (Marphysa mullawa), popular with fishermen as bait.
[6][7] The original area of Cribb Island was populated in 1884 by a tribe of approximately 50 Indigenous Australian people, who bartered their locally-caught fish and mud crabs for bread and potatoes from the early European settlers.
Although more local business moved in to provide basic services, this demographic remained the status quo until the end of the suburb's existence.
[17] On Sunday 6 June 1936, Archbishop James Duhig officially opened St Martha's Catholic church.
[20] On Sunday 10 February 1952, Duhig officially opened St Martha's Catholic School as an extension of the church building.
[10] In the early 1960s, Cribb Island was the childhood home of Bee Gees pop stars Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb.
[citation needed] On 22 September 1986, the Queensland Government decided to remove the names Cribb Island and Lower Nudgee from the official maps because "no trace of either suburb remains".
[5] Today little remains of Cribb Island as the land was reclaimed and extensively redeveloped as part of Brisbane Airport, with the new runway which now appears over the former suburb being officially completed in 2020.
[26] The Ibis Hotel at Brisbane Airport calls its bistro the Cribb Island Beach Club.