West Prairie is a rural

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localitie ...

in the

Toowoomba Region The Toowoomba Region is a Local government in Australia, local government area (LGA) on the border of Darling Downs and South East Queensland regions of Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, the LGA was preceded by several other local go ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. In the , West Prairie had a population of 78 people.

History

The locality takes its name from the Prairie pastoral run operated by

Henry Stuart Russell Henry Stuart Russell (16 March 1818 – 5 March 1889) was an English-born explorer, politician, historian and pastoralist, best known for establishing the Cecil Plains, Queensland, Cecil Plains Station around the Condamine River area of Australia ...

in 1855. On Buxton's Map of the

Darling Downs The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of the major regions of Queensland. The name was generally ...

, 1864, the run is shown in the hands of Russell and Taylor. In 1877, of land was resumed from the West Prairie pastoral run to establish smaller farms. The land was offered for selection on 24 April 1877. West Prairie Provisional School opened on 19 January 1885. On 1 January 1909, it became West Prairie State School. In 1918, it became a half-time provisional school in conjunction with St Ruth Provisional School (meaning the two schools shared a single teacher) and then it closed in early 1919. It reopened on 25 August 1925 but closed permanently in 1929.

Demographics

In the , West Prairie had a population of 79 people. In the , West Prairie had a population of 78 people.

Education

There are no schools in West Prairie. The nearest government primary schools are Cecil Plains State School in

Cecil Plains Cecil Plains is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Cecil Plains had a population of 380 people. Geography Cecil Plains is in the Darling Downs ...

to the south-west, Bowenville State School in Bowenville to the north, and Jondaryan State School in neighbouring Jondaryan to the north-east. The nearest government secondary schools are Cecil Plains State School (to Year 9),

Dalby State High School Dalby State High School is a heritage-listed Queensland State High Schools, state high school at 28B Nicholson Street, Dalby, Queensland, Dalby, Western Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1953 to 1954. It was added to the ...

in Dalby to the north, and Oakey State High School in

Oakey Oakey is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. The Oakey Army Aviation Centre, Museum of Army Aviation is located at Oakey Airport. In the , the locality of Oakey had a pop ...

to the east.

References

{{Toowoomba Region Toowoomba Region Localities in Queensland