Imbil 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

Gympie Region The Gympie Region is a local government area in the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, the state capital. It is between the Sunshine Coast and Hervey Bay and centred on the town of Gympie. It was creat ...

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 , Imbil had a population of 924 people.

Geography

Imbil is 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 ...

district in the Mary River valley, north of the state capital,

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

History

The town takes its name from the Imbil pastoral run which was named 1857 by the pastoralists Clement Francis Lawless and Paul Lawless. ''Imbil'' is a

Kabi Kabi or KABI may refer to: Places * Kabi Longstok, town in North Sikkim district, Sikkim, India * Kabi, Sikkim, village in North Sikkim district, Sikkim, India * Kabi River (''Kafu River''), river in Uganda People * Boris Kabi (born 1984), Ivorian ...

word referring to the bamboo vine, and is also used to refer to a lagoon below the Imbil station house. The town was established in 1868 at the start of the gold rush in the area. In 1887, of land were resumed from the Imbil pastoral run. The land was offered for selection for the establishment of small farms on 17 April 1887. The first Imbil post office opened on 9 July 1870 and closed in 1872. The second office opened in 1877 and closed in 1907. The third office opened by 1919. Imbil Provisional School opened on 19 July 1897. Due to fluctuating student numbers, it closed and reopened a number of times before closing in 1911. In 1915 it reopened as Imbil State School. On 30 January 1962 a secondary school section was added. On 30 November 2002 it was renamed Mary Valley State College. The opening of the Mary Valley branch railway line (now the

Mary Valley Rattler The Mary Valley Rattler (formerly Mary Valley Heritage Railway) is a heritage railway line that conducts steam train trips and tours from Gympie through the Mary Valley using the former Mary Valley railway line in the Gympie Region, Queensland, Aus ...

) in 1914 brought a second surge of development to the town. Imbil was served by the Imbil railway station at William Street (). An Imbil Railway Station Post Office opened in 1917 (a

receiving office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

had been open from 1915) and closed in 1920. Imbil United Protestant Church was built at 3 Elizabeth Street () by the Congregational Church with an official opening on Thursday 15 May 1919 by Reverend Stanley Morrison, the President of the Congregational Union. In 1940 it was sold to the Methodist Church for £125, becoming Imbil Methodist Church. Christ Church Anglican was dedicated on Wednesday 28 May 1924 by

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Gerald Sharp Gerald Sharp (27 October 1865 – 30 August 1933) was an English-born Anglican clergyman, Archbishop of Brisbane 1921–1933. Early life Sharp was born at Childer Thornton, George P. Shaw,Sharp, Gerald (1865–1933), '' Australian Dictionary ...

. Its closure circa 2018 was approved by Bishop

Jeremy Greaves Jeremy Greaves is an Australian bishop in the Anglican Church of Australia. He has served as the Assistant Bishop of Brisbane (Northern Region) since 2017. Greaves' grandfather, Walter Baddeley, was Bishop of Melanesia, based in the Solomon Is ...

. It is located at 88 Yabba Road (). On Saturday 13 November 1926

William Lennon William Lennon (8 December 1849 – 5 May 1938) was a politician in Queensland, Australia. He was a Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly and a Member of the Queensland Legislative Council. He was Lieutenant-Governor of Queensland. Bio ...

, the

Queensland Lieutenant-Governor The governor of Queensland is the representative in the state of Queensland of the monarch of Australia. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governor performs constitutional and ceremonial functi ...

, officially opened the Imbil Memorial School of Arts, which was built by the Imbil sub-branch of the R.S.S.I.L.A. to commemorate those who served and died 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 ...

. In 1955 St Columba's Presbyterian Church was opened on the corner of Myers Street and Yabba Road (approx ). In 1976 in the lead-up to the amalgamation of the Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational Churches into the Uniting Church in Australia in 1977, the Presbyterian church building was relocated to be adjacent to the Methodist Church building in Elizabeth Street and is now the Imbil Uniting Church, while the former Methodist Church building is now used as the church hall. The Imbil Public Library building opened in 1987. ImbilWarMemorial

The Imbil War Memorial is dedicated to those who served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It was dedicated on 11 November 1997 by the president of the

Mary Valley The Mary River (Kabi Kabi: ''Moocooboola'') is a major river system located in the South East and Wide Bay–Burnett regions of Queensland, Australia. Etymology The river was traditionally named ''Moocooboola'' by the indigenous Australian Ka ...

Returned and Services League of Australia The Returned and Services League of Australia (RSL) is a support organisation for people who have served or are serving in the Australian Defence Force. Mission The RSL's mission is to ensure that programs are in place for the well-being, care ...

, Clive Colburn. At the , Imbil had a population of 942. In the , Imbil had a population of 924 people.

Heritage listings

Imbil 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: * On the Mary Valley Rattler line over Yabba Creek (): Imbil Railway Bridge * 15 Edward Street: Imbil State School * 1 Elizabeth Road: Imbil Uniting Church * William Street: Imbil railway station * 34 Williams Street: Imbil Masonic Hall * 95 Yabba Road: Imbil Police Station * 100 Yabba Road: Imbil General Store * 110 Yabba Road: Imbil Hotel * 112 Yabba Road: Former Empire Theatre * 116 Yabba Road: Libby's Country Kitchen * 122 Yabba Road: Imbil Butcher Shop * 127 Yabba Road: Imbil RSL Hall

Education

Mary Valley State College is a government primary and secondary (Prep-10) school for boys and girls at 15 Edward Street (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 155 students with 17 teachers (15 full-time equivalent) and 16 non-teaching staff (9 full-time equivalent). It includes a

special education Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...

program.

Amenities

The

Gympie Regional Council The Gympie Region is a local government area in the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, the state capital. It is between the Sunshine Coast and Hervey Bay and centred on the town of Gympie. It was creat ...

operates a public library in Imbil at 123-125 Yabba Road (). The Imbil branch of the

Queensland Country Women's Association The Queensland Country Women's Association (QCWA) is the Queensland chapter of the Country Women's Association in Australia. The association seeks to serve the interests of women and children in rural areas in Australia through a network of loca ...

meets at the Imbil Public Hall in Edward Street. Imbil Uniting Church is at 3 Elizabeth Street (). It is part of the Mary Burnett Presbytery of the

Uniting Church in Australia The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was founded on 22 June 1977, when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of the Congregational Union ...

. Imbil Bowls Club is on Yabba Road. The town is the home of the Mary Valley Stags Rugby League Club.

Events

Imbil is home to the annual Mary Valley Art Festival. The festival began in 2000. Viewing of entrants artwork is conducted at the Imbil public hall. The town is also home to the motor rally event, the International Rally of Queensland, a long running event on the Queensland and

Australian Rally Championship The Australia Rally Championship (ARC) is Australia's leading road motor rally competition. A multi-event national championship has been held each year since 1968. Competition - to 2010 The Australia Rally Championship takes in some of the c ...

s. It was recently promoted to international standing as a round of the

Asia Pacific Rally Championship The Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) is an international rally championship organized by the FIA encompassing rounds in Asia and Oceania. Group N cars dominated the championship for many years but in recent years cars built to R5 and S20 ...

. Stages are held in surrounding forests and the show grounds are converted into the garage facilities for approximately 70 race cars over the course of the three-day event. It is now the longest running national level rally event in the country.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Towns in Queensland Gympie Region Populated places established in 1868 1868 establishments in Australia Localities in Queensland