Mount Crosby is a semi-rural outer western

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

City of Brisbane The City of Brisbane is a local government area (LGA) which comprises the inner portion of the metropolitan area of Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. Its governing body is the Brisbane City Council. Unlike LGAs in the other mainl ...

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 , Mount Crosby had a population of 1,832 people.

Geography

The locality of Mount Crosby is bounded to the south-west and south by the

Brisbane River The Brisbane River is the longest river in South East Queensland, Australia, and flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay on the Coral Sea. John Oxley, the first European to explore the river, named it after the Go ...

(known by locals as the "Devil's elbow"), to the south-east by Mount Crosby Road and a second section of the Brisbane River, and to the north by Lake Manchester Road and Swensons Road. It is south-west of the

Brisbane CBD Brisbane City is the central suburb and central business district of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. It is colloquially referred to as the "Brisbane CBD" or "the city". It is located on a point on the northern bank of the ...

. Mount Crosby has the following mountains: * Holts Hill () above sea level * Mount Crosby (also known as Mount Belle Vue) () above sea level

Colleges Crossing College's Crossing (also known as Colleges Crossing) is a low level bridge that crosses Brisbane River at Chuwar, a suburb of Ipswich in South East Queensland, Australia. The road across the bridge is Mount Crosby Road. During major floods o ...

() is a historic ford on the Brisbane River, now replaced by a low-level bridge.

History

The Jagera Aboriginal people inhabited areas in Mount Crosby and they had ceremonial grounds on the slopes of Mount Elphinstone and at

Bellbowrie Bellbowrie is a suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the Bellbowrie had a population of 5,462 people. Bellbowrie is on the northern side of the Brisbane River and lies west-southwest of Brisbane's city centre. It is a ...

John Oxley John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley (1784 – 25 May 1828) was an explorer and surveyor of Australia in the early period of British colonisation. He served as Surveyor General of New South Wales and is perhaps best known for his two exp ...

explored the Brisbane River in September 1824. He and Lieutenant Butler climbed the mountain (now known as Mount Crosby) naming it Belle Vue Mountain. The origin of the current name is uncertain, but there are two theories. The first theory is that first farmers to take up land in the area came from Crosbie-on-Eden on the England-Scotland border and they named the mountain Mount Crosbie. The second theory is that a gold prospector George Crosby worked here in the early days. In 1824 Allan Cunningham explored a shallow part of the Brisbane River () at the south-eastern corner of the present-day locality of Mount Crosby. This ford was later named ''

'' after farmer George College or Colledge (his name was spelled with both variants) who immigrated to Brisbane on the ship ''Artemisia'' in 1849 and acquired land in the area circa 1852. The Crosby postal receiving office opened on 1 January 1882; it was renamed Mount Crosby receiving office in June 1917. It became a full post office in about 1924. In May 1881 tenders were called for the erection of a provisional school in Lower Kholo (now Mount Crosby). Mount Crosby Provisional School opened on 30 January 1882 with 22 pupils under teacher Arthur Leigh. It closed on 31 December 1892, but soon reopened on 11 September 1893 as Mount Crosby State School under head teacher Samuel Rea. This original school was located at 655 Mount Crosby Road and is now heritage-listed. The

Mount Crosby Pumping Station Mount Crosby pumping station is a heritage-listed pumping station and weir (the Mount Crosby Weir) at Stumers Road, Mount Crosby, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is located on the Brisbane River and extends into Chuwar on the other ...

and the first Mount Crosby weir opened in 1892 to supply water to Brisbane. A small village was established to accommodate the workers, consisting of 60 cottages and other facilities such as a church/hall, store, and bowls club. A tramway was built from Tivoli to convey coal from the

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

Coalfield to the station. In the early 1940s about of land was sold to

Scouts Australia Scouts Australia is a trading name of The Scout Association of Australia, which is the largest scouting organisation in Australia, with an estimated 55,038 youth participants in 2021, and a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movemen ...

. This was developed as the Tyamolum Scout Camp. On 13 May 1948

Queensland Premier The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the unicameral Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is ap ...

Ned Hanlon officially opened the first section of the Mount Crosby East Bank Water Treatment Plant. The Autism Therapy & Education Centre opened on 1 March 1985 and closed on 5 June 2003. It was a school and therapy centre for children with

autism The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

. Kholo, Mount Crosby and Karana Downs were transferred from the

City of Ipswich The City of Ipswich is a local government area in Queensland, Australia, located within the southwest of the Brisbane metropolitan area, including the urban area surrounding the city of Ipswich and surrounding rural areas. Geography The Ci ...

to become part of the

in 2000. In the , the population of Mount Crosby was 1,728, 49.9% female and 50.1% male. The median age of the Mount Crosby population was 37 years of age. 74.2% of people living in Mount Crosby were born in Australia, compared to the national average of 69.8%; the next most common countries of birth were England 7.2%, South Africa 3.2%, New Zealand 2.9%, United States of America 0.9%, Germany 0.8%. 90.5% of people spoke only English at home; the next most common languages were 0.8% German, 0.6% Afrikaans, 0.5% Russian, 0.3% Persian (excluding Dari), 0.3% Mandarin. In the , the population of Mount Crosby was 1,832, 50.6% female and 49.4% male. The median age of the Mount Crosby population was 39 years of age. 72.9% of people living in Mount Crosby were born in Australia, compared to the national average of 66.7%; the next most common countries of birth were England 6.9%, South Africa 3.3%, New Zealand 2.9%, Germany 1.1%, United States of America 0.7%. 90.6% of people spoke only English at home; the next most common languages were Afrikaans 1.1%, German 1%, Mandarin 0.8%, Dutch 0.4%, Persian (excluding Dari) 0.4%. 60.7% of residents worked full-time, while a further 31.1% worked part-time, and 3.5% and 4.6% were away from work and unemployed respectively.

Heritage listings

Mount Crosby has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * 1 Brady Court: Waterworks Cottage No. 121 * 2 Brady Court: Waterworks Cottage No. 122 * 4 Brady Court: Waterworks Cottage No. 123 * 6 Brady Court: Waterworks Cottage No. 124 * 10 Brady Court: Waterworks Cottage No. 125 * 16 Brady Court: Waterworks Cottage No. 126 * 18 Brady Court: Waterworks Cottage No. 127 * 20 Brady Court: Waterworks Cottage No. 128 * 97 Lake Manchester Road: Shift Operator's House at Holt's Hill Plant (also known as Waterworks Cottage No. 1) * 97 Lake Manchester Road: Holt's Hill Entrance Avenue Trees * 97 Lake Manchester Road: Holt's & Cameron Hill Reservoir & Filtration Plant * 570 Mount Crosby Road: Burrows House & Fig Tree * 655 Mount Crosby Road (): former Mount Crosby State School and Residence * 659 Mount Crosby Road: Mount Crosby General Store & Post Office * 663 Mount Crosby Road: Waterworks Cottage No. 129 * 667 Mount Crosby Road: Waterworks Cottage No. 130 * 671 Mount Crosby Road: Waterworks Cottage No. 133 * 770 Mount Crosby Road: Mount Crosby Community Hall * 1 Scriven Street: Waterworks Cottage No. 114 * 5 Scriven Street: 5 Scriven Street, Mount Crosby * 6 Scriven Street: 6 Scriven Street, Mount Crosby * 8 Scriven Street: 8 Scriven Street, Mount Crosby * 20 Scriven Street: 20 Scriven Street, Mount Crosby * 27 Scriven Street: Waterworks Cottage No. 117 * 10 Stumers Road: Waterworks Cottage No. 139 * 16 Stumers Road: Waterworks Cottage No. 113 * 24 Stumers Road (): Waterworks Cottages No. 103 & 104 *24 Stumers Road (): Waterworks Cottages No. 105 & 106 *24 Stumers Road (): Waterworks Cottages No. 107 & 108 *24 Stumers Road (): Waterworks Cottages No. 109 & 110 * 24 Stumers Road (): Waterworks Cottage No. 112 * 58 Stumers Road ():

* 58 Stumers Road: Waterworks Cottage No. 102 (also known as Drayman's cottage) * Adjacent 58B Stumers Road ():

Mount Crosby Weir The Mount Crosby Weir is a heritage-listed weir on the Brisbane River at Mount Crosby and Chuwar, both in City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The project was instigated by John Petrie at the end of the 19th century. The town of Brisbane wa ...

& Old Bridge Foundations * 97 Stumers Road (): Mount Crosby Low Level Treatment Works * 97 Stumers Road: Mount Crosby High Level Reservoir * 57 Wattle Street: Fig Tree

Education

There are no schools in Mount Crosby. Despite the name, Mount Crosby State School is a government co-education primary (P-6) school located on the eastern side of Mount Crosby Road in neighbouring Karana Downs (). The nearest government secondary school is

Ipswich State High School Ipswich State High School is a state secondary school in the suburb of Brassall, Ipswich, Queensland, Australia, established in 1963, On the site of the original Brassall State High School. Simon Riley is the current principal since 2005. The ...

in Brassall in

to the south-west.

Facilities

The locality has a major role in the supply of water to Brisbane, including: * Mount Crosby Wier and Pumping Station on Stumer Road * Mount Crosby Eastbank Water Treatment Plant () * Camerons Hill Reservoirs () There is an

SES SES, S.E.S., Ses and similar variants can refere to: Business and economics * Socioeconomic status * Scottish Economic Society, a learned society in Scotland * SES, callsign of the TV station SES/RTS (Mount Gambier, South Australia) * SES S.A., ...

Unit at 24 Stumers Road ().

Amenities

Mount Crosby is serviced by a fortnightly visit of the

Brisbane City Council Brisbane City Council (BCC) is the democratic executive local government authority for the City of Brisbane, the capital city of the state of Queensland, Australia. The largest City Council in Australia by population and area, BCC's jurisd ...

's mobile library service outside the Mount Crosby State School on Mountt Crosby Road. Mount Crosby Bowls Club is at 770 Mount Crosby Road (). Mount Crosby Post Office is at 659 Mount Crosby Road, part of the general store (). Tyamolum Scout Park and Camping Ground is at 31 Bunya Street (). It has one building providing bunk-house style accommodation with kitchen, dining and uni-sex bathroom facilities. It also provides several areas for tent camping There are a number of parks in the locality, including: * Banksia Drive Reserve () * Bullock Dray Road Park () * Jack Kerr Court Park () * Malcolm Mcdougall Park () * Platypus Park () * Scriven Street Reserve () * Stumers Road Reserve () * Swensons Road Nature Reserve ()

References

External links

University of Queensland: Queensland Places: Mount Crosby
* * {{Suburbs of Brisbane City Council Suburbs of the City of Brisbane Localities in Queensland