The first land chosen for soldier settlement in Queensland was near the Beerburrum railway siding on the North Coast railway line. This mostly dry sclerophyll forest and wallum heathland had been leased to the Federal government in 1910 as a military reserve for 30 years at a peppercorn rent. From 1913 the Federal government paid an annual rent of £1 subject to the right of resumption by the State of Queensland if required for State purposes. In 1916 the area was returned to the Queensland government for soldier settlement. The area eventually opened for this purpose stretched from Beerburrum to Glass House Mountains in the north, southwards to Elimbah and eastwards to Pumicestone Passage. Beerburrum Soldier Settlement was first and largest of the approximately two dozen Soldier Settlements established in Queensland. Over the course of the scheme (1916-1929) approximately 2,500 returned soldiers were settled on the land in Queensland, including at least 400 at Beerburrum.