Brooweena is a rural town and

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...

in the

Fraser Coast Region The Fraser Coast Region is a local government area in the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, the state capital. It is centred on the twin cities of Hervey Bay and Maryborough and also contains Fraser I ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. In the , Brooweena had a population of 104 people.

Geography

The town is located in the

Wide Bay–Burnett Wide Bay–Burnett is a region of the Australian state of Queensland, located between north of the state capital, Brisbane. The area's population growth has exceeded the state average over the past 20 years, and it is forecast to grow to more ...

area and is north of the state capital, Brisbane. It is on the Maryborough–Biggenden Road. The north-west of the locality includes a large portion of the

Wongi National Park ''Manilkara kauki'' is a plant in the subfamily Sapotoideae, and the tribe Sapoteae of the family Sapotaceae; and is the type species for the genus ''Manilkara''. It occurs in tropical Asia from Indo-China (Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vie ...

and the Wongi State Forest.

History

The name ''Brooweena'' is believed to be an Aboriginal word meaning ''

crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all the ...

''. The town was established following the arrival of the

Mungar Junction to Monto Branch Railway The Mungar Junction to Monto railway line is a railway in Queensland, Australia. Progressively opened in eleven stages between 1889 and 1928 the line branched from the North Coast line at Mungar Junction a short distance west of Maryborou ...

in 1889. Brooweena Post Office opened on 23 December 1889. Braemar Provisional School opened on 21 January 1901 and closed on 1 July 1935. It closed in 1922 due to low attendances. It reopened in 1924 and closed on 1 July 1935 and the students were transferred to the newly-opened Woocoo State School (which closed in 1961). Braemar is the name of a pastoral property south of Brooweena. Brooweena Provisional School opened on 21 March 1904; the first teacher was Eugenie Eveline Hay. It was upgraded to a State School in 1909. Ballugan Provisional School opened on 12 November 1907. On 1 January 1909 it became Ballugan State School. It closed in December 1909 but reopened in August 1910. It closed permanently on 30 June 1911. BrooweenaWoocooHistoricChambers

In 1915, the chambers of the newly established

Shire of Woocoo The Shire of Woocoo was a local government area located in the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, containing the rural residential area to the west of the town of Maryborough, and surrounding countryside. The shire covered an ...

were constructed in the town. This small building survives to this day as part of the Early Settlers Museum operated by the Woocoo Historical Society. BrooweenaWarMemorial

In 1922, the residents of the

Woocoo Shire The Shire of Woocoo was a local government area located in the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, containing the rural residential area to the west of the town of Maryborough, and surrounding countryside. The shire covered a ...

erected a war memorial outside St Mary's Church of England on the Maryborough-Biggenden Road at Teebar (now within Boompa). In 1992 the memorial was relocated to the Woocoo Historical Museum in Brooweena due to concerns about vandalism. It is now known as the

Brooweena War Memorial Brooweena War Memorial is a heritage-listed memorial at Smith Crescent, Brooweena, Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1922 by F W Webb. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992. History The ...

. Elizabeth Mary Thomas nee Eaton, formerly Mrs B J Nichols, donated land from the property ''Clifton'' for a church and cemetery. Subscription towards the building fund were made on the understanding that the church was dedicated in the name of

St Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

to the memory of Woocoo Shire soldiers killed in action in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Opening services of the St Mary's Anglican Church were held on 26 October 1919. The church was built by Matthew Edmund Rooney of Maryborough. There is a group of three stained glass windows behind the altar. In 2019 residents and descendants of past residents attended a 100th anniversary service, and a plaque to commemorate the occasion was unveiled in the church grounds. The church is variously described as being located at Boompa, Brooweena, or Teebar. A timber mill was established in 1924, ensuring the continuing existence of the town by being its major employer. The mill was destroyed in a fire in 1988 and was rebuilt by local people. On Thursday 28 November 2013 the mill closed as it was no longer compliant with modern safety standards and the cost of modernising the mill would be millions of dollars. After Robertson Bros Sawmills sold the Brooweena mill to Ken Hall, it was reopened in 2017. Idalia Provisional School opened on 20 July 1931 and closed on 16 April 1939. New council chambers were opened in Brooweena on 14 April 1962 by

Jack Pizzey Jack Charles Allan Pizzey (2 February 1911 – 31 July 1968) was a Queensland Country Party politician. He was Premier of Queensland, in a coalition with the Liberal Party, from 17 January 1968 until his death on 31 July that year. To date, h ...

, the Member of the

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly ...

for

Isis Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...

. The town set an unofficial record in 2009 when 134 people simultaneously played the lagerphone. In the , the locality of Brooweena had a population of 263 people. In the , the locality of Brooweena had a population of 104 people. In the 2021 census, the population had dropped to 91 people.

Heritage listings

Brooweena has a number of

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and man-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In many ...

sites, including: * Brooweena-Woolooga Road: War Memorial Bridge * Smith Crescent:

Additionally,

Fraser Coast Regional Council The Fraser Coast Region is a local government area in the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, the state capital. It is centred on the twin cities of Hervey Bay and Maryborough and also contains Fraser I ...

has placed the following sites on its Local Heritage Register.- * Brooweena Sawmill at Corfield Street Brooweena * Mount Joseph Three Rail Fence at Brooweena Woolooga Road Brooweena * Woocoo Historical Society at Smith Crescent Brooweena * St Mary’s Church and Cemetery at Maryborough Biggenden Road Brooweena

Education

Brooweena State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at Lahey Street (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 12 students with 2 teachers (1 full-time equivalent) and 4 non-teaching staff (2 full-time equivalent). There is no secondary school in Brooweena; the nearest are in Maryborough to the east or

Gayndah Gayndah is a town and locality in the North Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Gayndah had a population of 1,981 people. It is the administrative centre for the North Burnett Region. Geography Gayndah is on the Burnett River and ...

to the west.

References

External links