Discover Ipswich Suburb’s Founding Footprints

1823 – Mount Forbes (👥 262)

Oxley named the peak on 4 Dec 1823; sheep and cattle still graze its ridges.

• 1823 – Oxley charts “Mt Forbes”
• 1860s – Franklyn Vale runs carved up
• 1938 – Short-lived national-park declaration
• 1999 – Locality bounded

1827 – Ipswich (👥 2,468)

Began 1827 as Limestone station; renamed Ipswich in 1843 for the Suffolk port.

• 1827 – Penal quarry opened
• 1843 – Town renamed
• 1858 – Municipality gazetted
• 1865 – Qld’s first railway

1827 – Goodna (👥 10,391)

“Woogaroo” convict sheep station became Goodna river port; name on town plan 1856.

• 1827 – Station established
• 1856 – Township surveyed
• 1874 – Rail reached Goodna
• 1893 – Great flood

1828 – Basin Pocket (👥 931)

Named for the Bremer “Basin” where steamers turned; leafy but flood-prone pocket.

• 1828 – Cunningham notes the Basin
• 1860s – Ferry to North Ipswich
• 1867 – Methodist chapel
• 1880s – Urban lots sold

1828 – Raceview (👥 9,699)

Dixon’s 1828 sketch labels “Race View paddock” overlooking future turf course.

• 1828 – Name on survey
• 1859 – Ipswich racecourse opens
• 1950 – “Raceview” on land ads
• 1971 – Primary school

1828 – The Bluff (👥 53)

Cunningham sketched the sandstone bluff; still open paddocks above the Brisbane River.

• 1828 – Bluff mapped
• 1840s – Grazing on Fernvale run
• 1995 – Locality bounded
• 2000s – Remains rural

1830 – Redbank (👥 2,931)

Convict map marks red-soil riverbank; later Queensland’s first rail workshops.

• 1830 – “Red Bank” on survey
• 1864 – Rail workshops open
• 1888 – Abattoir established
• 1914 – Woollen mill

1840 – Mount Mort (👥 78)

Franklyn Vale valley charted 1840; pastoral ever since.

• 1840 – Run surveyed
• 1890 – School opens
• 1905 – Small coal shafts
• 1930s – Population wanes

1842 – West Ipswich (👥 512)

Laid out as “Little Ipswich” 1842; gasworks lit busy Brisbane Street.

• 1842 – Lots auctioned
• 1878 – Gasworks open
• 1902 – Electric tram terminus
• 1960s – Industry replaced by retail

1843 – Pine Mountain (👥 1,695)

Burnett’s 1843 notebook notes hoop-pine ridge; timber then orchards.

• 1843 – Name recorded
• 1870 – Gold “scare”
• 1880 – Methodist church
• 1936 – School closed

1843 – Woolshed (👥 8)

1840s sheep-shearing shed gave locality its enduring name; still grazing land.

• 1840s – Woolshed erected
• 1900 – Sheep replaced by cattle
• 2000 – Locality bounded
• 2021 – Population eight

1847 – North Ipswich (👥 4,527)

Lime-kilns then 1864 Railway Workshops forged industrial north bank.

• 1847 – Lime quarrying
• 1864 – Workshops open
• 1878 – First river bridge
• 1902 – Erecting shop built

1847 – Moores Pocket (👥 736)

Thomas Moore’s 1847 farm hugged a Bremer bend; floods still test it.

• 1847 – Moore’s selection noted
• 1890 – Bremer bridge built
• 1930s – Market gardens peak
• 1974 – Major flood

1848 – Woodend (👥 1,483)

Panton’s Woodend estate 1848; villas and Ipswich Grammar crown the ridge.

• 1848 – Estate mapped
• 1860 – Coal seam tapped
• 1863 – Grammar founded
• 1875 – Catholic precinct

1850 – One Mile (👥 2,038)

Coaching inn one mile from post office; miners’ cottages linger.

• 1866 – Coal pit opens
• 1873 – Hancock pottery
• 1908 – Boundaries extend
• 1950 – Leichhardt name used

1850 – Blacksoil (👥 106)

1850 press notes “black-soil” bullock camp; highway and farms remain.

• 1850 – Name in press
• 1868 – Rail siding
• 1949 – Highway built
• 2011 – Warrego bypass

1850 – Ripley (👥 4,288)

Ebenezer Ripley’s pastoral valley named c.1850; now booming Ecco Ripley.

• 1850 – Valley name on plan
• 1874 – Township reserve
• 2014 – Town centre starts
• 2017 – Retail heart opens

1850 – Lower Mount Walker (👥 192)

Lower slopes surveyed mid-1850s; orchards and studs dot valley.

• 1860s – Wheat & dairying
• 1903 – Tarampa Shire
• 2000 – Locality named
• 2008 – Remains in Ipswich

1851 – Brassall (👥 12,115)

Name on Warner’s 1851 plan; “Hungry Flats” became garden suburb.

• 1851 – Plan signed
• 1860 – Brassall Shire forms
• 1884 – Valley rail opens
• 1917 – Shire merges

1852 – Bundamba (👥 6,542)

Ugarapul for “stone-axe place”; flour, racecourse then coal.

• 1852 – Parish name
• 1864 – Cotton boom
• 1872 – Racecourse
• 1880 – First mine
• 1893 – School opens

1856 – Newtown (👥 1,498)

Rockton homestead, finished 1856, predates Macalister’s 1864 “New Town Estate” and still crowns the ridge.

• 1856 – Two-storey Rockton completed
• 1864 – First “New Town Estate” sale
• 1892 – Ipswich Girls’ Grammar opens
• 1914 – Newtown Park gazetted
• 1930s – Federation & Californian bungalows infill

1857 – Booval (👥 2,723)

Ugarapul for “frilled lizard”; rail, woollen mills and bacon works followed.

• 1857 – Booval House
• 1876 – Station opens
• 1895 – Woollen mill
• 1916 – Bacon factory

1860 – Chuwar (👥 2,178)

Yuggera for “honey”; riverfront farms now leafy acre blocks.

• 1860s – Farms settled
• 1878 – Temperance hall
• 1930s – Orchard boom
• 1990s – Acreage estates

1860 – Goolman (👥 47)

Yuggera “stone”; hamlet beneath Mt Goolman, now conservation estate.

• 1860s – Runs surveyed
• 1874 – School opens
• 1914 – School closes
• 1994 – Flinders-Goolman park

1860 – Karalee (👥 5,521)

Possibly “pretty hill”; river flats grazed till 1980s acreage estates.

• 1860s – Pastoral paddocks
• 1980s – Acreage releases
• 1985 – State school
• 2021 – #1 Volunteering suburb

1860 – Mount Marrow (👥 182)

Hill named by 1860; cotton then 1885 coal mine.

• 1860 – Cotton grown
• 1885 – Mine opens
• 1909 – School opens
• 1916 – Rail siding

1860 – Muirlea (👥 174)

John Muir’s “lea” on 1860s sale ads; still semi-rural.

• 1860s – Selections
• 1873 – Name in ads
• 1884 – Rail nearby
• 1949 – In city

1860 – Peak Crossing (👥 1,016)

Village below Flinders Peak road crossing; service hub for farms.

• 1860s – Coach halt
• 1871 – School opens
• 1915 – Rail line
• 2008 – LGA split

1860 – Redbank Plains (👥 24,349)

Grazing plains behind Redbank; huge suburban burst after 1980.

• 1860s – Cattle runs
• 1874 – Town reserve
• 1980s – First estates
• 2016 – Pop doubles

1860 – Springfield (👥 7,322)

Name on 1860s pastoral plan; quiet until 1993 Greater Springfield project.

• 1860s – Pastoral paddocks
• 1930 – School reserve
• 1993 – New-town launched
• 1999 – First residents

1860 – Tallegalla (👥 351)

Yuggera “big fig”; German farms ring Lutheran church (1876).

• 1860s – Selectors settle
• 1876 – Church built
• 1879 – School opens
• 1917 – Name survives

1862 – Coalfalls (👥 898)

Coal seams outcropping on the Bremer were claimed 1862; the name “Coal Falls” described both the cliff and a small riverside selection.

• 1862 – Thomas Gall’s mineral selection advertised
• 1877 – Town map labels the cliff Coalfalls
• 1919 – Ipswich Grammar builds sports grounds
• 1926 – Soldiers’ Memorial gates erected

1862 – Amberley (👥 253)

English namesake on 1862 roll; vast RAAF Base dominates since 1940.

• 1862 – Name in roll
• 1940 – Air base opens
• 1970s – School relocated
• 2010 – New school site

1862 – Eastern Heights (👥 3,631)

Irish rail-and-mine families formed the ridge hamlet nicknamed Irishtown in the early 1860s; “Eastern Heights” surfaced decades later.

• 1862 – Irish labourers’ cottages cluster east of Queens Park
• 1874 – Crown orchard lots auctioned
• 1888 – Villa Garowie finished
• 1910 – Newspaper first captions “Eastern Heights”

1863 – Sadliers Crossing (👥 1,358)

Named for Sadlier family’s 1863 bridge; rail suburb of gabled cottages.

• 1863 – Footbridge built
• 1875 – Western line
• 1886 – Rail bridge
• 1914 – Catholic church

1864 – Ashwell (👥 97)

Loveday’s farm “Ashwell” cited 1864; tiny school still serves paddocks.

• 1864 – Name in press
• 1887 – School opens
• 1900s – Dairying hub
• 1996 – Locality bounded

1864 – Marburg (👥 1,013)

German families settled the “First Plain” in 1864; sugar and timber trades shaped the village later surveyed as Marburg.

• 1864 – German selectors take up farms
• 1868 – Small sugar mill starts
• 1879 – Township officially surveyed
• 1911 – Marburg branch railway opens

1865 – Calvert (👥 374)

Rail siding named for Robert Calvert; grain silos dominate skyline.

• 1865 – Station opens
• 1870s – Farms expand
• 1900 – School opens
• 1995 – Boundary shift

1865 – Grandchester (👥 467)

“Bigge’s Camp” rail head renamed Grandchester on Qld’s first line.

• 1865 – Rail terminus
• 1875 – Post office
• 1890 – Laidley branch
• 1965 – Station heritage-listed

1865 – Rosewood (👥 3,263)

Rosewood trees named town; rail, dairy then coal centre.

• 1865 – Rail reaches
• 1875 – Hotel & PO
• 1904 – Shire formed
• 1955 – Coal boom

1865 – Walloon (👥 2,305)

Rail village; Lawson’s “Babies of Walloon” tragedy famed.

• 1865 – Station opens
• 1877 – Coal seams
• 1891 – Lawson poem
• 1988 – Mining ends

1866 – Blackstone (👥 1,144)

Welsh coal town; Cambrian Choir founded 1886.

• 1866 – First pit
• 1886 – Choir forms
• 1887 – School opens
• 1910 – Coal peak

1866 – Ebenezer (👥 301)

Scots biblical name on 1866 church; wool scour then rural quiet.

• 1866 – Church built
• 1877 – Wool scour
• 1900s – Grazing
• 2011 – Industry zoned

1867 – Mutdapilly (👥 308)

Yuggera “sticky gully”; hotel and school on coach road.

• 1864 – Hotel opens
• 1874 – School
• 1906 – Rail bypass
• 2000 – Boundary split

1870 – Churchill (👥 1,842)

Sugar mill then hill-top church perhaps coined the name.

• 1870 – Sugar mill
• 1873 – First Ipswich show event
• 1893 – St Bridget’s
• 1911 – School
• 1960s – Suburban infill

1870 – Ebbw Vale (👥 540)

Welsh miners’ name; coal hamlet round St Helens pit.

• 1877 – Mine starts
• 1886 – Station renamed
• 1910 – School
• 1976 – Mine closes

1870 – Haigslea (👥 507)

German Kirchheim renamed Haigslea in WWI.

• 1870s – Settlement
• 1873 – Lutheran church
• 1916 – Name change
• 1920 – School

1870 – Ironbark (👥 1,173)

Dense ironbark forest cut for rail sleepers; now bush-acre lots.

• 1870s – Timber-getting
• 1895 – Shire formed
• 1901 – School
• 1995 – Joins Ipswich

1870 – North Tivoli (👥 84)

North flank of Tivoli coalfield; pits then landfill.

• 1870s – Coal shafts
• 1900 – Aberdare mine
• 1927 – Disaster nearby
• 1990s – Industrial reuse

1870 – Riverview(👥 3,067)

Devine’s Hill miners’ ridge evolved into Riverview after mid-20th-century housing spread.

• 1873 – Row-boat service across the reach
• 1881 – Rope punt replaces ferry
• 1911 – Aberdare Extended Colliery opens
• 1982 – Riverview railway station opens

1870 – Silkstone (👥 3,830)

Yorkshire coal town’s name; Box Flat mine disaster haunts memory.

• 1870s – Pits open
• 1893 – Box Flat mine
• 1901 – School
• 1972 – Mine disaster

1870 – Tivoli (👥 1,460)

Coal suburb named for European resort; 1932 drive-in icon.

• 1870 – First mine
• 1898 – Disaster
• 1932 – Drive-in
• 1986 – Last pit closes

1873 – Karrabin (👥 416)

Yuggera “red gum”; rail stop served brickworks.

• 1875 – Station opens
• 1891 – Brickworks
• 1919 – Quarry
• 1950s – Farming wanes

1874 – South Ripley (👥 4,069)

First marked as Bundamba Upper School Reserve 1874; now Providence growth hub.

• 1874 – Bundamba Upper School opened
• 1909 – Renamed Ripley State School
• 1972 – Name “South Ripley” first on topo sheet
• 2015 – Providence estate launched

1874 – North Booval (👥 3,041)

Rail-workers’ suburb across Bremer.

• 1887 – Name in directory
• 1902 – Rail bridge
• 1906 – School
• 1974 – Flood levee

1874 – Leichhardt (👥 4,471)

Western One Mile paddocks first sold 1874; suburb name Leichhardt adopted 1953 for the explorer.

• 1874 – Crown farm lots auctioned¹
• 1943 – US Army bulk-fuel depot²
• 1953 – New suburb name approved³
• 1963 – Leichhardt State School opens⁴

1875 – Gailes (👥 1,831)

Rail siding became Gailes when golf links opened 1925.

• 1875 – Siding opens
• 1925 – Renamed Gailes
• 1929 – Golf club
• 1946 – Post office

1877 – White Rock (👥 0)

Pale sandstone outcrop; locality bounded 1991, all conservation land.

• 1877 – Landmark on map
• 1991 – Locality created
• 2020 – Hiking reserve
• No residents

1880 – East Ipswich (👥 2,321)

“Limestone East” sold after 1879 station; jacaranda-lined streets.

• 1879 – Station opens
• 1880s – Subdivision
• 1892 – School
• 1902 – Workshops boost

1880 – Lanefield (👥 97)

Lane family siding; coal then silence.

• 1886 – Station opens
• 1890 – Coal pit
• 1915 – Line closes
• 2010s – Rail-trail plan

1882 – Thagoona (👥 1,077)

Yuggera “grass tree”; siding served Foote vineyard, now hobby farms.

• 1882 – Station opens
• 1890 – Vineyard peaks
• 1930 – Line closes
• 1990s – Acreage estates

1882 – Purga (👥 561)

Yuggera “stone”; Post Office proclaimed 1882, fertile black-soil farms endure.

• 1882 – PO gazetted
• 1921 – Aboriginal mission
• 1950 – Mission closes
• 2000s – Wetland reserve

1884 – Dinmore (👥 1,109)

Herefordshire namesake; rail junction then Qld’s largest abattoir.

• 1884 – Station opens
• 1908 – Rail bridge
• 1919 – Meatworks
• 1990 – Motorway upgrade

1887 – Willowbank (👥 1,351)

Named for an 1887 Willowbank dairy homestead; now Ipswich’s motorsport heart beside RAAF Amberley.

• 1887 – Willowbank dairy homestead recorded
• 1940 – Amberley buffer zone limits housing
• 1988 – Willowbank Raceway opens
• 1999 – Queensland Raceway hosts first V8 Supercars

1887 – Wulkuraka (👥 1,325)

Sadlier’s Siding renamed Wulkuraka 1914; now rail depot.

• 1914 – Name adopted
• 1980 – Workshops
• 2015 – Depot opens
• Rail hub continues

1910 – Jeebropilly (👥 0)

Yuggera “flying squirrel gully”; open-cut coal 1914-2007.

• 1914 – Mine opens
• 1940s – Mining camp
• 2007 – Mine closes
• 2010 – Land rehab

1914 – New Chum (👥 0)

Coal-field village for “new-chum” miners; now landfill site.

• 1914 – Shaft sunk
• 1987 – Landfill opens
• 2019 – Fire incident
• Industrial use continues

1940 – Swanbank (👥 0)

Coal then 1967 power station; recycling era today.

• 1946 – Coal mine
• 1967 – Power station A
• 2002 – Coal units shut
• 2018 – Waste-to-energy

1972 – Carole Park (👥 0)

Landowner’s daughter’s name; residential pocket ceded to Brisbane side 2010.

• 1972 – Suburb gazetted
• 1970s – Housing estate
• 1997 – School moves
• 2010 – Industrial zone (Ipswich side unpopulated)

1973 – Camira (👥 7,415)

Aboriginal “windy”; bush carved into curving streets after 1973.

• 1973 – Suburb named
• 1974 – School opens
• 1980s – Build-out
• 1992 – Joins Ipswich

1976 – Bellbird Park (👥 9,191)

Named for bellbirds after 1974 flood; estates fill ridges.

• 1976 – Name adopted
• 1978 – Kruger school
• 2006 – Brentwood estate
• 2021 – Pop ~10 k

1980 – Yamanto (👥 4,971)

Coined name on highway; retail hub since 1992.

• 1980 – Service centre
• 1984 – Suburb bounded
• 1992 – Shopping village
• 2020 – Town centre opens

1982 – Collingwood Park (👥 9,246)

Named for 1910 mine; suburb proclaimed 1982.

• 1910 – Colliery opens
• 1982 – Suburb named
• 1987 – School opens
• 2008 – Subsidence event

1985 – Flinders View (👥 5,816)

Gazetted 1985 for Flinders Peak views; brick estates followed.

• 1985 – Name approved
• 1990s – Estates built
• 2000 – Shopping centre
• 2011 – Pop > 5 k

1991 – Barellan Point (👥 1,173)

Indigenous “meeting waters”; carved from Karalee 1991.

• 1860s – River farms
• 1940s – Bremer Junction known
• 1991 – Suburb gazetted
• 2015 – WWII airfield memorial

2000 – Brookwater (👥 2,902)

Golf-estate launched 2000; gazetted 2003.

• 2000 – Estate announced
• 2002 – Course opens
• 2003 – Boundaries fixed
• 2017 – UDIA awards

2000 – Deebing Heights (👥 3,960)

Yuggera “watercress creek”; locality named 2000, booming since 2016.

• 2000 – Locality created
• 2006 – Estates start
• 2016 – State school
• 2021 – Rapid growth

2000 – Mount Walker West (👥 0)

Western flank kept in Ipswich after 2000 split; no residents.

• 2000 – Locality named
• 2008 – Stays in city
• 2021 – Still unpopulated
• Land – Cattle & bush

2002 – Springfield Central (👥 234)

Town-centre concept approved 2002; gazetted 2007 as Springfield CBD.

• 2002 – CBD plan endorsed
• 2007 – Suburb gazetted
• 2008 – Orion mall opens
• 2013 – Rail station

2003 – Augustine Heights (👥 6,088)

St Augustine’s-College-inspired name; suburb gazetted 2003.

• 1990 – Reservoir tagged “Augustine Heights”
• 2003 – Suburb bounded
• 2003 – St Augustine’s opens
• 2015 – Retail village

2006 – Springfield Lakes (👥 17,211)

Chain of man-made lakes anchors Greater Springfield’s largest village.

• 2001 – First earthworks
• 2006 – Suburb gazetted
• 2008 – Regatta Lake filled
• 2011 – Pop > 10 k

2010 – Spring Mountain (👥 6,085)

Named for nearby peak; estates climb slopes, parkland preserved.

• 2010 – Locality bounded
• 2015 – Estates start
• 2019 – School opens
• 2020 – Conservation park