Pomona
Postcode: 4568
Pomona is a town located at the base of Mt Cooroora at the northern end of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. The town was originally called Pinbarren siding and was renamed Pomona in 1906 after the Roman goddess of fruit and orchards. Pomona is 166 kilometres north of Brisbane, and approximately 30 minutes driving time from Noosa Heads.
Pomona was settled in the late 1880’s. The railway to Pomona was opened in 1891. The town became the administrative centre of the Noosa Shire in 1909.
Pomona is notable for two things:
The Majestic Theatre claims to be the oldest continuously operating silent movie theatre in the world. Built in 1921, it became a community-owned enterprise in October 2006. Following a major refurbishment which preserves the historic character, the Majestic now presents a range of live performance as well as films. The Golden Age of Silent Cinema lives on, with regular silent film matinees, an annual silent film festival (first weekend in September) and weekly screenings on Thursday nights of Rudolph Valentino in The Son of The Sheik, accompanied on the pipe organ by Ron West, who with his late wife, Mandy, owned the theatre from 1974.
Pomona is also known for its annual King of the Mountain run. The event starts and finishes in the centre of town and involves a one kilometre run to and from the base of nearby Mt Cooroora with a 600 metre climb to the summit of the mountain sandwiched in between. This event has been held on the fourth Sunday of July each year since 1959.