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Surfers Paradise is a suburb within the local government area of City of Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. At the, Surfers Paradise had a population of 19,668. Colloquially known as 'Surfers', the suburb has many high-rise apartment buildings and a wide surf beach. The feature of the heart of the suburb is Cavill Mall, which runs through the shopping and entertainment precinct. Cavill Avenue, named after Jim Cavill, an early hotel owner, is one of the busiest shopping strips in Queensland, and the centre of activity for night life. One of the features of the area is the Surfers Paradise Meter Maids designed to build goodwill with tourists.Surfers Paradise is the Gold Coast's entertainment and tourism centre and the suburbs high-rise buildings are the best known feature of the city's skyline.In 2009 as part of the Q150 celebrations, Surfers Paradise was announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for its role as a "location".HistoryJames Beattie, a farmer, became the first European to settle in the area when he staked out an 80acre farm on the northern bank of the Nerang River, close to present-day Cavill Avenue. The farm proved unsuccessful and was sold in 1877 to German immigrant Johan Meyer, who turned the land into a sugar farm and mill. Meyer also had little luck growing in the sandy soil and within a decade had auctioned the farm and started a ferry service and built the Main Beach hotel. By 1889, Meyer's hotel had become a post receiving office and subdivisions surrounding it were named Elston, named by the Southport postmaster after his wife's home in Southport, Lancashire, England. The Main Beach Hotel licence lapsed after Meyer's death in 1901 and for 16 years Elston was a tourist town without a hotel or post office.