Toogoolawah ( ) is a rural town and

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

Somerset Region The Somerset Region is a local government area located in the West Moreton region of South East Queensland, Australia, northwest of the City of Brisbane. The region is centred on the town of Esk, which also serves as the council seat. Somer ...

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 , Toogoolawah had a population of 1,200 people.

Geography

Toogoolawah is in

South East Queensland South East Queensland (SEQ) is a Bioregion, bio-geographical, Megalopolis, metropolitan and Statistics, statistical Regions of Queensland, region of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland in Australia, with a population of ...

. Toogoolawah is a centre for

gliding Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sports, air sport in which pilots fly glider aircraft, unpowered aircraft known as Glider (sailplane), gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmospher ...

and

parachuting Parachuting and skydiving are methods of descending from a high point in an atmosphere to the ground or ocean surface with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or multiple parachutes. For hu ...

and in the past the centre of a dairying industry. Cressbrook Creek, a tributary of the

Brisbane River The Brisbane River (Turrbal language, Turrbal: ) is the longest river in South East Queensland, Australia. It flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay on the Coral Sea. John Oxley, the first European to explore the ...

, passes through the town as does the

Brisbane Valley Highway The Brisbane Valley Highway is a state highway in Queensland, Australia. It links the Warrego Highway near Ipswich, Queensland, Ipswich and the D'Aguilar Highway about north of Harlin. Its direction follows the approximate course of the Brisb ...

Naming

The district was originally known as ''Cressbrook'' after the

Cressbrook Station Cressbrook Homestead is a heritage-listed homestead (buildings), homestead at off Cressbrook-Caboombah Road, Cressbrook, Queensland, Cressbrook, Somerset Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1841 to 1914. It was added to the Queensl ...

operated by . The town took its present name ''Toogoolawah'' from its former railway station, which was named in November 1903 using the name ''Tugulawah'' proposed by McConnel, the name of the McConnel's residence at

Bulimba Bulimba is a suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Bulimba had a population of 7,623 people. Geography Bulimba is located north-east of the CBD on the southern bank of the Brisbane River, but it is by road. Top ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

(now known as Bulimba House). McConnel had originally suggested the name ''Bakewell'' after a village in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, for the new town and railway station, but the Queensland Railways Department wanted to use an Aboriginal name. Toogoolawah is derived from the Aboriginal words "dhoo" (a generic term for tree) and "goo/lawa", meaning "crescent shaped" or "bent like a crescent moon". The name probably referred to a tree with a deformed trunk which stood on the site in Bulimba, rather than to the supposed shape outlined by the Brisbane River as it rounds Bulimba Point, as has been alleged.

History

Cressbrook Provisional School was operating in 1881 but closed in 1882 due to low student numbers; its opening date is unknown. What is now Toogoolawah town was surveyed privately when Cressbrook estate was subdivided and sold as

dairy farm Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for the long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for the eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a h ...

s in 1904. The town plan was not registered with the survey office until 1 June 1909. The extension of the

Brisbane Valley railway line The Brisbane Valley railway line was a railway connection in Queensland, Australia connecting Ipswich, Queensland, Ipswich, west of Brisbane, to the upper Brisbane River valley. Progressively opened between 1884 and 1913, the railway provided ...

from Esk to the new town () was opened on 8 February 1904. A Toogoolawah receiving office was opened in June 1904 and was elevated to

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

status in July 1905. Toogoolawah Provisional School opened on 30 May 1905. On 1 January 1909, it became Toogoolawah State School. A secondary department was added on 28 January 1975 until a separate high school opened on 25 January 1988. On Monday 10 September 1906, St Andrew's Anglican Church Hall was opened in Toogoolwah 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 ...

St Clair Donaldson St Clair George Alfred Donaldson (11 February 1863 – 7 December 1935) was an English Anglican bishop. He was the first Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane, Australia. Early life Donaldson was the third son of Sir Stuart Alexander Donaldson and h ...

. On Sunday 12 May 1912, St Andrew's Anglican Church was dedicated by Archbishop St Clair Donaldson. A

condensed milk Condensed milk is Milk#Cow, cow's milk from which water has been removed (roughly 60% of it). It is most often found with sugar added, in the form of sweetened condensed milk, to the extent that the terms "condensed milk" and "sweetened condensed m ...

factory was built shortly after the railway station was opened. The factory was closed in 1929, after

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...

moved all its condensed milk production to

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, resulting in the town's population decreasing by half.

The Toogoolawah War Memorial commemorates those who served in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Unlike most war memorials that were erected after the war, the Toogoolawah memorial was unveiled during the war on 31 March 1917 by the Rev. Chaplain Merrington. On 20 October 1940, a church building was relocated to Toogoolawah to reopen in Gardner Street North as the Cornerstone Lutheran Church (). It was formerly the Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Jeebropilly, which opened on 20 April 1898, closing circa 1938. Toogoolawah State High School opened on 25 January 1988, replacing the secondary department attached to Toogoolawah State School. Toogoolawah Library had a major refurbishment in 2006. Toogoolawah was partially cut off by flooding as a result of the

2010–2011 Queensland floods A series of floods hit Queensland, Australia, beginning in December 2010. The floods forced the evacuation of thousands of people from towns and cities. At least 90 towns and over 200,000 people were affected. Damage initially was estimated at A ...

Demographics

In the , the locality of Toogoolawah had a population of 1,162 people. In the , Toogoolawah had a population of 1,279 people. In the , Toogoolawah had a population of 1,200 people.

Heritage listings

Toogoolawah 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: * Toogoolawah War Memorial, Gunyah Street () *

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

(house), 58 Fulham Street () * St Andrew's Church, 2 Mangerton Street () * St Andrew's Church Hall, Mangerton Street () * St Andrew's Rectory, Mangerton Street ()

Amenities

The

Somerset Regional Council The Somerset Region is a Local government in Australia, local government area located in the West Moreton region of South East Queensland, Australia, northwest of the City of Brisbane. The region is centred on the town of Esk, Queensland, Esk, ...

operate a public library at Gunyah Street. There are three

pubs A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

in Toogoolawah, all situated on the main road.

Education

Toogoolawah State School is a government primary (Early Childhood to Year 6) school for boys and girls at Gardner Street (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 171 students with 16 teachers (12 full-time equivalent) and 11 non-teaching staff (7 full-time equivalent). Toogoolawah State High School is a government secondary (7–12) school for boys and girls at 76 Old Mount Beppo Road (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 267 students with 33 teachers (29 full-time equivalent) and 22 non-teaching staff (14 full-time equivalent). Brisbane Valley Cluster Special Education Program is a primary and secondary (Early Childhood to Year 12) special education program at Toogoolawah State High School at 76 Old Mount Beppo Road ().

Attractions

Toogoolawah is home to a fun-jumping and tandem skydiving centre.

In popular culture

Toogoolawah featured on the third season of ''The Mole'' in 2002.

Notable people

* Frederick Lancelot Nott, dairy farmer of Toogoolawah and

Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly This is a list of members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, the state parliament of Queensland, sorted by parliament. See also * Queensland Legislative Assembly electoral districts This is a list of current and former Electoral dis ...

for the Electoral district of Stanley

References

External links

*
Town map of Toogoolawah, 1973

Toogoolawah Tourism Body
{{authority control Towns in Queensland Suburbs of Somerset Region Localities in Queensland