Darra is a south-western

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 separate ...

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 mainl ...

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. In the , Darra had a population of 4,343 people.

Geography

Darra is located by road south-west of the

Brisbane GPO The General Post Office (abbreviated: GPO) in Brisbane, Queensland, in Australia is a heritage-listed post office located at 261 Queen Street in 1872 and extended through to Elizabeth Street in 1908. It is still in use by Australia Post. Op ...

. The suburb features the cross over of the

Ipswich Motorway The Ipswich Motorway (M7) is a major road that connects Brisbane and Ipswich in South East Queensland, Australia. It commences at the junction of Ipswich Road and Granard Road and proceeds through to the M2 Logan Motorway interchange. It is the ...

(M7) and

Centenary Motorway The M5 (Centenary Motorway) is a motorway in the western suburbs of Brisbane, Australia. It starts as a two-lane arterial road at Yamanto, travelling to Springfield, where it becomes a two-lane highway and travels across the M2 Logan Motorway ...

(M5). Brisbane Technology Park Westlink Green is located at Westlink Court, next to Darra railway station. Surrounding suburbs include Seventeen Mile Rocks,

Oxley Oxley may refer to: Places Australia Australian Capital Territory * Oxley, Australian Capital Territory is a suburb of Canberra, Australia Queensland *Oxley, Queensland is a suburb of Brisbane, Australia ** Oxley railway station, Brisba ...

Sumner Sumner may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Sumner, a mountain in the Rare Range, Antarctica * Sumner Glacier, southern Graham Land, Antarctica Australia * Sumner, Queensland, suburb of Brisbane New Zealand * Sumner, New Zealand, seaside sub ...

, Richlands, and Jamboree Heights.

History

The first subdivisions in the area occurred in 1864. Wolston Estate was the property of M. B. Goggs, whose father obtained the land forty years previously in the 1860s and after whom Goggs Road is named. The name ''Darra'' comes from the

Darra railway station Darra railway station is located on the Main line in Queensland, Australia. It serves the Brisbane suburb of Darra. History A stop at "nine miles forty four chain" from Central was established when the line between Ipswich and Brisbane was bu ...

, which in turn was named in mid-1876 by the

Queensland Railways Department Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...

. In 1914, the Railways did not know the origin of the name. In 1879, the local government area of

Yeerongpilly Division Yeerongpilly is a southern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Yeerongpilly had a population of 1,934 people. Geography Yeerongpilly is south-west of the Brisbane GPO. A small section of the north eastern bound ...

was created. In 1891, parts of Yeerongpilly Division were excised to create

Sherwood Division #REDIRECT Shire of Sherwood The Shire of Sherwood is a former local government area of Queensland, Australia, located in south-western Brisbane in and around the suburb of Sherwood. History On 11 November 1879, the Yeerongpilly Division wa ...

becoming a Shire in 1903 which contained the area of Wolston Estate. A portion of Darra comes from the Wolston Estate, consisting of 54 farms on an area of 3000 acres, offered for auction at Centennial Hall, Brisbane, on 16 October 1901. Only three of the farms sold at the original auction. Darra Methodist Church opened on Saturday 13 March 1915 by Reverend William Smith, President of the Queensland Methodist Conference. When the Methodist Church amalgamated into 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 Union ...

, it became the Darra Uniting Church. In 1914 Queensland Cement and Lime Company was formed established a cement manufacturing plant in Darra. The company (by then known as Queensland Cement Limited) closed the Darra plant in 1998 after losing its right to dredge

Moreton Bay Moreton Bay is a bay located on the eastern coast of Australia from central Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources. The waters of Moreton Bay are a popular destination for recreational anglers and are ...

for

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and sec ...

from which

lime Lime commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Botany ...

was extracted to make cement. Darra State School opened on 1 June 1916. In 1925, the

Shire of Sherwood The Shire of Sherwood is a former local government area of Queensland, Australia, located in south-western Brisbane in and around the suburb of Sherwood. History On 11 November 1879, the Yeerongpilly Division was created as one of 74 division ...

was amalgamated into the

. Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School was established on 5 April 1937 by the Sisters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. In 1987 the school opened a pre-school at Jindalee and the school's name became Darra-Jindalee Catholic School. The Jindalee site was closed in 2003. On 14 July 2008 the school was again renamed to be Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School Darra. In 1954, the Darra RSL Memorial Hall was opened. Sumner was known as Darra until 1969 when it became a separate suburb. Vietnamese refugees began to settle in the area in 1975. The origin of the word Darra came from the Aboriginal word for 'stones'. The Anglican Church of the Holy Spirit was dedicated in 1955 by Venerable Harold John Richards. Its closure about 28 October 2010 was approved by

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Phillip Aspinall Phillip John Aspinall (born 17 December 1959) is an Australian Anglican bishop. He has been the Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane, archbishop of the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane since February 2002 and was also the Anglican Primate of Australia, ...

. The houses are mainly of the Queenslander style built in the 1940s and 1950s. The majority of blocks in Darra are large enough to be subdivided, which is becoming popular in the suburb, hence making room for more modern homes. In the last few years, a property developer bought a vast tract of vacant,

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

land. As a result, there are now many new homes and

townhouse A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence ...

s built in Darra, which has increased its population and its geographical boundaries. In the , Darra had a population of 4,343 people.

Education

Darra State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at Winslow Street (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 201 students with 22 teachers (16 full-time equivalent) and 17 non-teaching staff (12 full-time equivalent). Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School is a Catholic primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at 115 Darra Station Road (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 531 students with 38 teachers (33 full-time equivalent) and 15 non-teaching staff (11 full-time equivalent).

Amenities

Linh Son Temple, a Vietnamese Buddhist temple is located in the suburb. Darra Vietnamese Uniting Church is at 6 Lee Road ().

Transport

provides access to regular

Queensland Rail City network The Queensland Rail Citytrain network, provides urban, suburban and interurban electric passenger railway services in South East Queensland, Australia. History The first railway in Queensland did not run to Brisbane, but ran from Ipswich to ...

services to Brisbane CBD,

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 ...

Rosewood Rosewood refers to any of a number of richly hued timbers, often brownish with darker veining, but found in many different hues. True rosewoods All genuine rosewoods belong to the genus ''Dalbergia''. The pre-eminent rosewood appreciated in ...

and

Springfield Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queenslan ...

. When the railway was completed in 1876 "with a stop at nine mile eighty four chain gate", halfway between the planned

Oxley railway station Oxley railway station is located on the Main line in Queensland, Australia. It serves the Brisbane suburb of Oxley. History Oxley station was first opened in 1874. During the 1890s, a brick structure was built that still survives today. In ...

and

Wacol railway station Wacol railway station is located on the Main line in Queensland, Australia. It serves the Brisbane suburb of Wacol. It is the last station on the Ipswich line located within Brisbane. History The Wolston railway station was opened on 8 Octob ...

, the site was set for the future Darra. The station was once the terminus for the first of Brisbane's electric rail lines, linked to

Ferny Grove railway station Ferny Grove railway station is the terminus station of the Ferny Grove line in Queensland, Australia. It serves the Brisbane suburb of Ferny Grove. The Brisbane Tramway Museum is a short walk south of the station. History The station opened ...

in 1979. The Centenary Freeway and the

provide access to the Brisbane CBD. Bus routes travel to surrounding suburbs of Inala,

Mount Ommaney Mount Ommaney is a south-western riverside suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The mountain of the same name is located within the locality (). In the , Mount Ommaney had a population of 2,360 people. Geography Mount Omman ...

, Middle Park, Jamboree Heights,

Riverhills Riverhills is a south-western suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is one of the Centenary suburbs. In the , Riverhills had a population of 4,042 people. Geography Riverhills is by road south-west of the Brisbane CBD. ...

and Sinnamon Park

References

External links

* {{Suburbs of Brisbane City Council Darra Populated places established in 1864 1864 establishments in Australia