Yugembah is one of the Australian Aboriginal languages in areas that include the Beenleigh, Beaudesert, Gold Coast, Logan, Scenic Rim, Albert River, Coolangatta, Coomera, Logan River, Pimpama, Tamborine and Tweed River Valley, within the local government boundaries of the City of Gold Coast, City of Logan, Scenic Rim Region and the Tweed River Valley. Tamborine used to be spelled Tambourine. It was the administrative centre of the Shire of Tamborine. St Patrick's Catholic Church was established in the early 1870s on the south bank of the Albert River on Michael Yores' property “Spiddle” near a swamp. Originally there was a cemetery near the church but due to flooding, it was decided to relocate the cemetery to land donated by Thomas Plunkett on Plunkett Road. In the 1960s the church was moved to the site of the former Tamborine railway station, where it was renovated and then dedicated in June 1966 by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of BrisbanePatrick Mary O'Donnell. As at 2020, a montlhy vigil service is held at the church. Tambourine Provisional School was instigated by Michael Yore and Thomas Plunkett. It was opened on 24 August 1874 in St Patrick's Catholic Church. In February 1905, the Queensland Government provided for a permanent school building at 2680-2726 Waterford Tamborine Road. On 1 January 1909the school became Tambourine State School. The spelling was changed to Tamborine on 29 April 1926. In 1933 a larger teacher's residence was built. Tamborine State School closed on 10 July 1970. The teacher's residence was relocated to Tamrookum. The school building was relocated to Chambers Flat at the Beaudesert Shire Council's depot; it was subsequently relocated to Tamborine Village. The site of the school is now the Tamborine School Park. The Canungra railway line from Logan Village railway station on the South Coast railway line to Canungra was opened on 2 July 1915. There were three railway stations on the line within present day locality of Tamborine: Plunkett railway station, Tamborine railway station, and Bromfleet railway station. The line closed on 1 June 1955. During World War II, the 32nd Infantry Division of the American Army established a camp initially called Camp Tamborine at Tamborine in 1942. Formerly in the Shire of Beaudesert, Tamborine was split between Logan City and Scenic Rim Region following the local government amalgamations in March 2008. In the, Tamborine had a population of 3,464.
Heritage listings
Tamborine has the following heritage-listed sites:
