West Prairie 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 bey ...

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 , establishe ...

, Australia. In the West Prairie had a population of 79 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 Station around the Condamine River area of Australia. Early life Russell wa ...

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 general ...

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

References

{{Toowoomba Region Toowoomba Region Localities in Queensland