Acacia Ridge is a southern

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separ ...

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 mainlan ...

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 , Acacia Ridge had a population of 7,429 people.

Geography

Acacia Ridge is south of the central business district. It is within the

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

. Primarily residential, Acacia Ridge is also known for its heavy industrial area in the suburb's east, occupying much of the suburb's area east of Beaudesert Road.

History

The name ''Acacia Ridge'' derives from the number of

Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus nam ...

species growing in the area. In October 1884, 275 allotments of "Flemington Estate" were advertised for sale by T. Howling & Co. A map advertising the sale states that the estate was close to the

Coopers Plains railway station Coopers Plains railway station is located on the Beenleigh line in Queensland, Australia. It serves the Brisbane suburb of Coopers Plains. History The station opened in 1885 at the same time as the line. In 2008, an upgrade of the station was ...

and that coaches passed the estate every day. Cooper's Plains Provisional School in 1869 opened on 1 April 1869, later becoming Cooper's Plains State School. On 10 July 1956, it was renamed Acacia Ridge State School. The school was at 1277 Beaudesert Road (). After the closure of Acacia Ridge State High School in 1997, Acacia Ridge State School relocated to the high school site in Nyngam Street, while the Murri School took over the Beaudesert Road site. The suburb was established after

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

to house returning servicemen and their families. Many of the original post-war dwellings still stand today. Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church was established on on land on the corner of Beaudesert and Mortimer Roads in Coopers Plains which was bought in April 1949 from Arthur Harper for by the parish priest of Moorooka, Father Flanagan. He also arranged for an old army hut to be relocated from the

Archerfield Airport Archerfield can refer to: *Archerfield, Queensland Archerfield is a mixed-use southern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Archerfield had a population of 544 people. Geography Archerfield is bounded by Oxley Cree ...

to the church site and spent converting the building into a church. The church was officially dedicated on Sunday 26 March 1950 by

James Duhig Sir James Duhig KCMG (2 September 187110 April 1965) was an Irish-born Australian Roman Catholic religious leader. He was the Archbishop of Brisbane for 48 years from 1917 until his death in 1965. At the time of his death he was the longest-s ...

, the Archbishop of Brisbane, with about 150 people attending. Two further army huts were relocated to the site. One of them was used to establish Our Lady of Fatima Primary School which opened on 25 January 1954. At its opening, the school had 78 pupils taught by two

Sisters of St Joseph The Sisters of St. Joseph, also known as the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph, abbreviated CSJ or SSJ, is a Roman Catholic religious congregation of women founded in Le Puy-en-Velay, France, in 1650. This congregation, named for ...

led by Sister Ibar. On 5 June 1966, Archbishop

Patrick Mary O'Donnell Patrick Mary O'Donnell (1897–1980) was an Irish-born Roman Catholic priest in Australia. He was Roman Catholic Archbishop of Brisbane in Queensland. Early life Patrick O'Donnell was born on 2 February 1897 at Main Street, Fethard, Ireland, t ...

opened the new brick church building, with the former church building being used as a hall. On 24 January 1971, the new school was officially opened by Bishop

Henry Joseph Kennedy Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) *Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

with 8 classrooms, an office, a staff room and a sick room. By that time, there were 260 students and 7 staff. Acacia Ridge Methodist Church was established in 1966. On the creation 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 Uni ...

in 1977, it became the Acacia Ridge Uniting Church. Watson Road State School opened on 23 January 1967. Acacia Ridge State High School opened on 25 January 1971 and closed on 31 December 1997, when it amalgamated with Salisbury State High School to form the new Nyanda State High School. Acacia Ridge State High School was at 67 Nyngam Street (). Acacia Ridge State School was then relocated onto the Nyngam Street site. The suburb was officially named and bounded on 11 August 1975. St Alban's Anglican Church closed circa 1980. The church building relocated to the Anglican Church of the Holy Spirit in neighbouring Algester to be used as a parish hall. The Aboriginal and Islander Independent Community School (also known as The Murri School) was opened 1 January 1986 in a disused Catholic primary school in Highgate Hill. In 1995, the school relocated to a disused state school in Milton. In 1997, the school obtained its current site in Acacia Ridge, which was the original site of Acacia Ridge State School before its relocation to the site of the former Acacia Ridge State High School after that school's closure. In the , Acacia Ridge recorded a population of 6,945 people. In the , Acacia Ridge had a population of 7,429 people, 49.8% female and 50.2% male. The median age of the Acacia Ridge population was 34 years, 3 years below the national median of 37. 61.6% of people living in Acacia Ridge were born in Australia, compared to the national average of 69.8%; the next most common countries of birth were New Zealand 3.9%, India 3.1%, Philippines 2.3% and Vietnam 2%. 59.6% spoke only English at home; the next most popular languages were 2.8% Somali, 2.6% Vietnamese, 2.4% Arabic, 1.8% Spanish, 1.8% Mandarin.

Heritage listings

Acacia Ridge 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 i ...

sites, including: * Carr's Quarry (former), 174 Mortimer Road () * Acacia Ridge Air Raid Shelter, 174 Mortimer Road () * Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church Hall, 350 Mortimer Road ()

Economy

From 1966 until the mid-1980s, Acacia Ridge accommodated one of

Holden Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. It was an Australian automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter which sold cars under its own marque in Australia. In its last thr ...

's main vehicle manufacturing plants, which produced both full-sized and smaller models including the

Holden Gemini The Holden Gemini is a compact car that was produced by Holden and sold in Australasia from 1975 to 1986. It was based on the Japanese Isuzu Gemini, one of the many models based on the GM T-car platform. First generation TX (1975–1977) ...

. When local production of the Gemini ceased in October 1984, the manufacturing plant closed down. The manufacturer remained, retaining a small area of the site for its regional headquarters until the early 2000s, when it relocated to Murarrie. Since closure of the plant,

Woolworths Woolworth, Woolworth's, or Woolworths may refer to: Businesses * F. W. Woolworth Company, the original US-based chain of "five and dime" (5¢ and 10¢) stores * Woolworths Group (United Kingdom), former operator of the Woolworths chain of shop ...

occupied the area, utilising its space as a regional distribution centre until recently, when an independent retail grocery chain resumed the site for similar purposes. On the opposite side of Beaudesert Road from the former manufacturing plant, Toyota has based its southern Queensland regional headquarters. This site is primarily used for managerial and distribution related duties, as opposed to vehicle production. Acacia Ridge is home to one of Queensland's largest railway freight yards, dealing with interstate freight and the

break-of-gauge With railways, a break of gauge occurs where a line of one track gauge (the distance between the rails, or between the wheels of trains designed to run on those rails) meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and rolling stock generally cannot ...

from to . In 2008, the Beaudesert Road level crossing was replaced by an overbridge, so that the sidings in the yard could be extended for the shunting of longer 1500 m trains. Because space was not sufficient for all potential users of this yard. In 2009, the line between Acacia Ridge and Bromelton was converted to

dual gauge In railway engineering, "gauge" is the transverse distance between the inner surfaces of the heads of two rails, which for the vast majority of railway lines is the number of rails in place. However, it is sometimes necessary for track to ca ...

to enable another

freight hub to be established at Bromelton in 2017. Acacia Ridge also borders one corner of

; a small, privately owned airport ().

Education

Queensland State Archives 6791 Acacia Ridge State School Brisbane August 1959

Acacia Ridge State School is a government primary (Early Childhood-6) school for boys and girls at 67 Nyngam Street (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 302 students with 28 teachers (26 full-time equivalent) and 27 non-teaching staff (16 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. Watson Road State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at 210 Watson Road (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 122 students with 15 teachers (13 full-time equivalent) and 14 non-teaching staff (9 full-time equivalent). Lady of Fatima Primary School is a Catholic primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at 350 Mortimer Road (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 151 students with 15 teachers (13 full-time equivalent) and 10 non-teaching staff (5 full-time equivalent). The Aboriginal & Islander Independent Community School (also known as The Murri School) is a private primary and secondary (Prep-12) school for boys and girls at 1277 Beaudesert Road (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 245 students with 25 teachers (22 full-time equivalent) and 35 non-teaching staff (29 full-time equivalent). YMCA Vocational School is a private secondary (7-12) facility of YMCA Vocational School at Kingston at 24 Mannington Road (). There is no government secondary school in Acacia Ridge. The nearest government secondary schools are: * Glenala State High School in Durack to the west * Sunnybank State High School in Sunnybank to the east * Calamvale Community College in Calamvale to the south

Amenities

Acacia Ridge Hall viewed from Cooley Street (6264877917)

Brisbane City Council provides a community centre at 13 Coley Street, off Charmaine Road (). It was formerly the Coopers Plains Senior Citizens Community Hall. Iceworld is one of Brisbane's two

ice skating rink An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water and/or an artificial sheet of ice created using hardened chemicals where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The ...

s and is at 1179 Beaudesert Road (). Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church is at 350 Mortimer Road (). Acacia Ridge Uniting Church is at 4 Chandler Street (). Acacia Ridge Church of Christ is at 51 Learoyd Road (corner of Bradman Street, ). Omega International Church is at 16 Mitchell Street (). The Samoan Acacia Ridge Church is part of the Wesleyan Methodist Church; it meets at the Omega International Church.

Notable residents

Mabior Chol Mabior Chol (born 29 January 1997) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for Gold Coast Suns in the Australian Football League (AFL), having formerly played for the Richmond Football Club. He was drafted by Richmond in the 2016 ...

, AFL player *

Steven Herrick Steven Herrick (born in Brisbane, 1958) is an Australian poet and author. Herrick has published twenty-six books for adults, young adults and children. He is widely regarded as a pioneer of verse-novels for children and young adults. Herrick was ...

, poet and author *

Jeff Horn Jeffrey Christopher Horn Jr. (born 4 February 1988) is an Australian professional boxer who held the WBO welterweight title from 2017 to 2018. As an amateur he represented Australia at the 2012 Olympics, reaching the quarterfinals of the light- ...

, boxer * Steve Price, rugby league player *

Johnathan Thurston Johnathan Dean Thurston (born 25 April 1983) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the National Rugby League (NRL). Thurston was an Australian international, Queensland State of Origin and Indigenous All ...

, rugby league player * Joel Turner, musician

References

External links

University of Queensland: Queensland Places: Acacia Ridge
{{Suburbs of Brisbane City Council Suburbs of the City of Brisbane