Samford is a town in

Moreton Bay Region The Moreton Bay Region is a local government area in the north of the Brisbane metropolitan city in South East Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it replaced three established local government areas, the City of Redcliffe and the Shi ...

, South East

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. It consists of two localities, Samford Village and Samford Valley.

Geography

Samford is a hilly area, roughly north west of

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 ...

. Access to Samford from

is via Samford Road through the Samford State Forest and takes about 10 minutes from Ferny Grove. Samford is located adjacent to the Samford State Forest section of Brisbane Forest Park. Brisbane Forest Park comprises more than 26,500 ha enclosing 16 separate recreation areas. The wide variety of habitat provides a sanctuary for a broad range of native wildlife. Samford Valley is known as the "Home of the Powerful Owl", as the area is known to be an important breeding area for the bird, Australia's largest owl. Parts of

D'Aguilar Range The D'Aguilar Range is a mountain range near Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The town of Dayboro is situated on the lower foothills midway along the range and the Sunshine Coast Hinterland town of Mooloolah lies at the northernmost point ...

, which includes nearby

Camp Mountain Camp Mountain is a rural locality in the Moreton Bay Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Camp Mountain had a population of 1,416 people. Geography Camp Mountain is near Samford, north-west of the Brisbane central business district. Th ...

Mount Nebo Mount Nebo ( ar, جَبَل نِيبُو, Jabal Nībū; he, , Har Nəḇō) is an elevated ridge located in Jordan, approximately above sea level. Part of the Abarim mountain range, Mount Nebo is mentioned in the Bible as the place where Mose ...

, Mount Glorious and Mount Pleasant, give rise to the valley in which Samford lies.

History

Samford was occupied by the indigenous people who named it ''Kupidabin'', an Aboriginal word from the Waka language, meaning 'place of possums'. They named D.L. Brown's land in Samford, ''Karandukamari''. Samford was an important location for "''kippa-ring''" or initiation ceremony. Tribes from

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 ...

, Cressbrook, Mount Brisbane and

would travel here to have their "kippas" (young men) initiated. Samford's very first inhabitants were an aboriginal tribe which belonged to the Waka language group, whose territory also included the upper

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 G ...

and the South Burnett. While there are no aboriginal tribes still living in Samford, their history remains by means of the

Bora Ring Bora is an initiation ceremony of the Aboriginal people of Eastern Australia. The word "bora" also refers to the site on which the initiation is performed. At such a site, boys, having reached puberty, achieve the status of men. The initiation ...

at Wights Mountain, the burial site near Upper Camp Mountain Road and the records kept at the local historical museum. Although Samford is closer to Brisbane than most acreage areas in the

Moreton Bay Regional Council The Moreton Bay Region is a local government area in the north of the Brisbane metropolitan city in South East Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it replaced three established local government areas, the City of Redcliffe and the Shi ...

, the secluded valleys of the upper reaches of the

South Pine River The South Pine River is a minor river located in South East Queensland, Australia. It rises on the D'Aguilar Range and passes through the Samford Valley in the Moreton Bay Region local government area. Location and features The South Pine Rive ...

were not settled by Europeans until the mid-1850s. The first land auctions were held on 1 February 1855. Samford State School , circa 1872

Samford Provisional School opened on 1 October 1872. In 1879, it became Samford State School. In 1916 the Highlands Estate was advertised for private sale by Robinson & Jolly. A map of the estate indicates the land was five minutes from the Samford railway station on the Enoggera Terror's Creek Line (the

Dayboro railway line The Ferny Grove railway line is a suburban railway line in Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. It is part of the Queensland Rail City network. History Based on initial surveys, in 1885 the Queensland Government plan ...

), which was under construction at the time. Samford Main Street view South West to Camp Mountain, 1920

Buildings began to appear in Samford Village's Main Street in 1916. The first business to open in the Samford area was a shop and bakehouse which was owned and built by Alex Lawson. The Samford railway station on the Dayboro line opened 1 July 1918; it reached its terminus at

Dayboro railway station Dayboro is a rural town and locality in the Moreton Bay Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Dayboro had a population of 2,119 people. Geography Dayboro Main Street 002 In 1919, the O'Hara's Hotel (the Samford Hotel) shifted to its current location. The location from which the hotel previously operated was purchased and used by the

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency responsible for scientific research. CSIRO works with leading organisations around the world. From its headquarters in Canberra, CSIRO ...

. In the late 1950s, this hotel again changed its name from the Samford Railway Hotel to the Golden Valley Hotel. By 1908, banana growing on the steep ridges at the foot of the ranges had become one of the most important industries in the Samford district. After World War 1, the government created additional small farms so that returned servicemen with limited capital were able to get started in the industry. During 1926 and 1927, more bananas were consigned to southern markets from Samford Railway Station than any other railway station in Queensland. However this success was short-lived. The banana bunchy top virus which had wiped out banana growing in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, spread to Samford and was the primary reason for the decline of the industry in the Pine Rivers Shire. After the subdivision of farms into acreage homesites commenced in the 1960s, with substantial upgrading of road access completed more recently, many of Samford's residents commute to work in Brisbane. In 2008, Samford became part of the

Facilities

Samford Village contains a mix of historical buildings, restaurants, shops and services. Samford's heritage as a village servicing farming communities is apparent from the facilities which include an equipment hire business, hardware and produce stores, as well as banking, shopping, medical, chiropractic, fitness, legal and accounting. A tourist attraction is the Samford Valley Historical Museum. Located in the heart of the village, John Scott Park is the frequent venue of community cultural activities such as free concerts and holiday celebrations. The park contains playground facilities for children and is a popular venue for weekend

barbecue Barbecue or barbeque (informally BBQ in the UK, US, and Canada, barbie in Australia and braai in South Africa) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that use live fire and smoke ...

s. The Slab Hut Gallery is an information centre and art gallery located in John Scott Park at the centre of town. There are several gift shops, restaurants and cafes, as well as a pub, in the immediate vicinity of John Scott Park. In addition to the Samford Scout Group, the Scout Association of Queensland operates Baden Powell Park. An easy walk from the Village, Baden Powell Park consists of 56 hectares of natural bush land bordering the Brisbane Forest Park. Within the grounds are modern, fully equipped conference facilities for up to 150 people, a commercial kitchen, accommodation blocks, camping ground, swimming pool, dam, abseiling tower as well as walking trails of various grades. Baden Powell Park is the venue for a number of activities open to the public such as laser skirmish and abseiling. The Baden-Powell Heritage Centre & Museum is open to scouting groups and to the general public on weekends. The

operates a

mobile library A bookmobile or mobile library is a vehicle designed for use as a library. They have been known by many names throughout history, including traveling library, library wagon, book wagon, book truck, library-on-wheels, and book auto service. Bookm ...

service which visits John Scott Park on Station Street. The Samford branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association meets at the QCWA Hall at 31 Main Street, Samford Village.

Sports and activities

Some of the local sports played in and around town include

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

horse riding Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding (Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...

, soccer, football,

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball c ...

, archery and

lawn bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a bowling green, which may be flat (for "flat-gr ...

. The Pine Rivers Shire Council, now known as the

, acquired the former CSIRO land which is on the northern edge of the Village and comprises some 140 ha. The Council is planning a sport and recreation facility that will become a major resource for the residents of Samford Valley and the Moreton Bay region. The possible facilities include open space, camp ground, equestrian, tennis, netball, amphitheatre, kiosk, soccer and rugby league and parking. The area is very popular with cyclists and the area saw an explosion of local coffee shops between 2010 and 2015.

Community

The Samford Support Network is a group of volunteers providing a variety of services to community members who are ill, elderly, living with a disability, or struggling.

Education

Samford State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at School Road (). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 850 students with 61 teachers (52 full-time equivalent) and 37 non-teaching staff (23 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. There is no secondary school in Samford. The nearest government secondary school is

Ferny Grove State High school Ferny Grove State High School is a public secondary school in the suburb of Ferny Grove, in Brisbane, Australia. The school has a total enrolment of more than 1900 students, with an official count of 1963 students in 2021. In 2007, the school ...

in Ferny Grove to the south-east. Several private schools maintain buses to Samford, including

St Paul's School, Bald Hills , motto_translation = By Faith and By Learning , location = , Brisbane, Queensland , country = Australia , type = Independent co-educational early learning, primary and secondary day school , denomination = Anglican ...

, Padua College and

St. Joseph's Nudgee College , motto_translation = A Sign of Faith , location = Boondall, Queensland , country = Australia , coordinates = , other_name = St. Joseph's Nudgee College , former_name ...

Boondall Boondall is a suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Boondall had a population of 9,217 people. It was formerly known as Cabbage Tree Creek (after the creek that flows through the area). Geography Situated approximat ...

Climate

Samford has a sub-tropical climate with very hot, humid summers and mild, dry, sunny winters. Most rain falls during the height of summer, between November and February. Whilst summer maximum average temperatures generally linger around 30C, the summer months have some extremely hot days, sometimes higher than 40C.

References

External links

* * {{authority control Towns in Queensland Moreton Bay Region Populated places established in 1855 1855 establishments in Australia