Gold mining and industry eventually led him to Queensland, where he proved himself to be a most useful pioneer to whose efforts the state owes the rapid development of previously unsettled and practically unknown portions of her territory.

Until this time the area had become known as "Waterview" no doubt due to the presence of the large settlement, composed of the Stewarts, Watsons, Alexanders and Samuel Johnston and the industry that had been created.

Many Trove documents and historical papers refer to the Weather, Births and Deaths being at Waterview giving evidence to the size of what is now North Bundaberg.

Many years after beginning in the Burnett region, and after the early settlements had expanded to the far north, he continued to show his enterprise by extending his interests to Port Douglas, becoming the owner of "Drumsara" (named after his place of birth), a sugar estate on the Mossman River.

Apart from designing and owning the Waterview sawmills, Samuel Johnston became the Chairman of the New Moonta Copper Mine[4] (~80 km West of Bundaberg) and was also one of its Provisional Trustees.

[citation needed] In 2013 another serial entrepreneur Matthew Drane re-established the Waterview brand and reintroduced the community to a large part of its missing heritage.