Acacia Ridge is a southern

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

in the

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

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 , Acacia Ridge had a population of 7,486 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 federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

. 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 wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Austral ...

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 wa ...

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 Acacia Ridge is a southern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Acacia Ridge had a population of 7,486 people. Geography Acacia Ridge is south of the central business district. It is within the local government are ...

took over the Beaudesert Road site. The suburb was established after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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 Airport is a leased federal airport located in Archerfield, Queensland, Archerfield, to the south of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. For some time, it was the primary airport in Brisbane, but it is now the secondary airport. During ...

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- ...

, 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 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, ...

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 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) is a united church in Australia. The church was founded on 22 June 1977 when most Wiktionary:congregation, congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church o ...

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 founded on the initiative of Gungalu and

Birri Gubba The Birri Gubba people, formerly known as Biria, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of Queensland. Language The Birri Gubba people spoke a number of languages in the Biri language group. Country The Biria held sway over some , ...

man Ross Watson. It 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.

Demographics

In the , Acacia Ridge had 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. In the , Acacia Ridge had a population of 7,486 people. In 2021, 5.7% of people are Indigenous, compared to 4.6% Queensland-wide.

Heritage listings

Acacia Ridge has a number of

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and human-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In ma ...

sites, including: * Carr's Quarry (former), 174 Mortimer Road () *

Acacia Ridge Air Raid Shelter Acacia Ridge Air Raid Shelter is a heritage-listed former air raid shelter at 174 Mortimer Road, Acacia Ridge, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was built from to by Allied Works Council. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Re ...

, 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. Founded in Adelaide, it was an automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter that sold cars under its own marque in Australia. It was ...

'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 1987. It was based on the Japanese Isuzu Gemini, one of the many models based on the GM T platform (RWD), GM T-car platform. __TOC__ First gene ...

. 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 Murarrie (formerly Mooraree) is an eastern riverside mixed-use suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Queensport is a neighbourhood within Murarrie (). Gibson Island is a neighbourhood within Murarrie () and, despite its name, is ...

. Since closure of the plant, Woolworths 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 canno ...

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 Dual gauge railroad track has three or four rails, allowing vehicles of two track gauges to run on it. Signalling and sidings are more expensive to install on dual gauge tracks than on two single gauge tracks. Dual gauge is used when there i ...

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 (also known as special-needs education, aided education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, and SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual di ...

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). Murri School is a private primary and secondary (Prep–12) school for boys and girls at 1277 Beaudesert Road (). It caters for the cultural needs of Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander Torres Strait Islanders ( ) are the Indigenous Melanesians, Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal peoples of the res ...

students, and aims to improve the literacy, numeracy, employment and educational opportunities for its students, and has partnerships with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service; the Institute of Urban Indigenous Health;

Queensland University of Technology The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public university, public research university located in the city of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. It has two major campuses, a modern city campus in Gardens Point, Brisbane, Gardens Point ...

;

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

; and Triple A Murri Country radio station. 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

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 Acacia Ridge ''Iceworld'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Hal Clement. It was published in 1953 by Gnome Press in an edition of 4,000 copies. The novel was originally serialized in the magazine ''Astounding'' in 1951. Plot The novel concerns a ...

is one of Brisbane's two

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

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 who plays for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Richmond Football Club and the Gold Coast Suns. He w ...

, 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 wa ...

, poet and author *

Jeff Horn Jeffrey Christopher Horn Jr. (born 4 February 1988) is an Australian former professional boxer who competed from 2013 to 2020. He held the WBO welterweight title from 2017 to 2018. As an amateur, he represented Australia at the 2012 Olympics, ...

, 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

* {{Journey Beyond railway stations, Great Southern=y, state=collapsed Suburbs of the City of Brisbane