Douglas is a rural

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

Toowoomba Region The Toowoomba Region is a local government area located in the Darling Downs part of Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by several previous local government areas with histories extending back to the early 1900s and beyo ...

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 , Douglas had a population of 112 people.

Geography

The Pechey-Maclagan Road runs through the locality from east to west. The predominant land use is

grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to roam around and consume wild vegetations in order to convert the otherwise indigestible (by human gut) cellulose within grass and other ...

on native vegetation and crop growing.

History

German settlers arrived in the district in 1875. A Lutheran congregation formed and worshipped in private homes, until the Jesus Lutheran Church was opened on 24 July 1882 on the Douglas Plainby Road (). The church was enlarged in 1938. On 21 December 1886, the

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended fr ...

reserved a site for a cemetery. A section for Lutheran burials was created in the north-west of the site and a section for Catholic burials in the south. Gomoron Provisional School opened on 28 February 1887. It was most likely named after Gomaren Creek which flows through the area. It became Goromon State School in 1890. In 1911, its name was changed to Douglas State School, to avoid post office confusion as there was another place called Gomaren. The school closed in 1959. It was at Douglas Plainby Road (corner Guy Road, ). Pastor Wilhelm Poland with his family at Crows Nest, circa 1933

Pastor Wilhelm Poland with his family at Crows Nest, circa 1933

Pastor Wilhelm Georg Friedrich Poland was the Lutheran minister in Douglas from 1910 until his retirement in 1933. During

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 ...

, he was interned at

Trial Bay Gaol Trial Bay Gaol is a heritage-listed former public works prison and internment camp at Cardwell Street, Arakoon, Kempsey Shire, New South Wales, Australia. The property is owned by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. It was added to th ...

as an

enemy alien In customary international law, an enemy alien is any native, citizen, denizen or subject of any foreign nation or government with which a domestic nation or government is in conflict and who is liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured and ...

. In 1992, the Jesus Lutheran church building was relocated to be the chapel at the Ballon Outdoor Education Centre in the Barakula State Forest in Durah (

Western Downs Region Western Downs Region is a local government area in Queensland, Australia. The Western Downs Regional Council manages an area of , which is slightly smaller than Switzerland, although with a population of 34,467 in June 2018, it is over 228 ti ...

), operated by

Concordia Lutheran College , motto_translation = Without the Lord, all is in vain , established = 1946 , type = Independent, co-educational, day & boarding , denomination = Lutheran , slogan = , principal = Anton Prinsloo , key_people = , chaplain ...

in Toowoomba. In 2019, it was relocated to the Googa Outdoor Education Centre, operated by a number of Lutheran organisations, in the Googa State Forest on Nukku Road at Googa Creek (Townsville Region). The site of the church in Douglas is marked with a small monument. In the , Douglas had a population of 112 people.

Economy

There are a number of homesteads in the locality, including: * Greyhurst () * Hillview () * Ky-Lew () * Nargoor () * Yavrabee ()

Education

There are no schools in Douglas. The nearest government primary school is Goombungee State School in neighbouring

Goombungee Goombungee is a rural town and locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. In the the locality of Goombungee had a population of 1,026 people. Geography Goombungee is 35 km north-west of Toowoomba in the Darling Downs. The ...

to the west and Haden State School in Haden to the north-west. The nearest government secondary schools are Crows Nest State School (to Year 10) in Crows Nest to the north-east and Highfields State Secondary College (to Year 12) in Highfields to the south-east.

Facilities

Douglas Cemetery is on Douglas Plainby Road (). It is operated by the Toowoomba Regional Council.

References

{{Toowoomba Region Toowoomba Region Localities in Queensland