[2][3] When Patrick Joseph McNamara started the paper in 1885, he worked in a tin shed on Southport's Lawson Street.

He named the paper The Southern Queensland Bulletin, and it was the first newspaper published in Southport.

On 21 December 1928,[2] under the editorship of Mr Michael James O'Donohue, the newspaper changed format to a tabloid and altered its masthead to The South Coast Bulletin.

It focused on local issues and was "strongly involved in promoting the South Coast as a holiday resort".

[3][7] The final issue with The South Coast Bulletin masthead was published on 3 May 1963.