For countless generations, the Blackall Range has held spiritual significance for many Aboriginal people throughout South East Queensland. Abundant bunya pines growing throughout this area produced large nut crops, providing enough food for huge gatherings. When the nut crop peaked every three years, Kabi Kabi and neighbouring Wakka Wakka people hosted the Bonyee Festival. Many invited guests travelled great distances from coastal and inland areas to share food, songs and dances, arrange marriages, and other social interactions. A large grassy area near Baroon Pocket was an important gathering place. Early settlers of the area grew fruit, vegetables and cereal crops. The first timber cutters extracted
red cedar and
beech timber taking it to Nambour. Mapleton Provisional School opened on 17 July 1899 with an initial enrolment of 15 students under teacher Lizzie Fitzgerald. It became Mapleton State School on 1 January 1909. By 1909, a sawmill was operating in the town. The church was located approximately at 21 Flaxton Drive (). The church was still open in 1965, but, as at 2021, it is no longer operating and the building no longer exists. From 1915 through until 1944, Mapleton was served by a gauge
Mapleton Tramway which ran nearly from Nambour. It was worked by two
shay locomotives. Pineapples, dairying and small crops were the towns major industries until the late 1950s. Mapleton Observatory was opened to the public in 2002. == Demographics ==