Boonah, Queensland

"Boonah" redirects here. For the 1918 Spanish influenza infected ship off Fremantle, see Boonah crisis.
Boonah
Queensland

Main street of Boonah, 2008
Boonah
Coordinates 28°00′S 152°41′E / 28.000°S 152.683°E / -28.000; 152.683Coordinates: 28°00′S 152°41′E / 28.000°S 152.683°E / -28.000; 152.683
Population 2,474 (2011 census)[1]
Established 1882
Postcode(s) 4310
Location
LGA(s) Scenic Rim Region
State electorate(s) Beaudesert
Federal Division(s) Wright
Localities around Boonah:
Hoya Coulson Allandale
Kents Pocket ' Allandale
Mount French Dugandan Allandale

Boonah is both a town and a locality of the Scenic Rim Region in south-eastern Queensland, Australia.[2][3] At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 2,474.[1]

Geography

The town is positioned near the Fassifern Valley, McPherson Range and Main Range. It is surrounded by hills, including Mount French and other Moogerah Peaks. Frog Buttress is a popular rock climbing cliff on the north-west side of Mount French.

History

Postcard of Hereford cattle on Coochin Coochin Station, near Boonah, 1909. In the background Mount Barney and the McPherson Range of the Scenic Rim can be seen.
Boonah State School, circa 1917

Originally the area was known as Dugandan, after a farm that was occupied as early as 1844.[4] Another early pastoral run was Coochin Coochin station.[5] Dugandan Provisional School opened on 15 July 1878.[6][7] By 1882, the settlement was developing as a service centre for the surrounding farms. It became known as Blumbergville.[5] On 30 May 1887, the school was upgraded to State School status.[7] Blumbergville Post Office opened around 1884.[8]

The railway line from Ipswich was extended to the area[9] in 1887, with the name Boonah given to a rail siding.[4] The main commercial centre moved from Dugandan at the railway terminus, to Boonah after floods forced a shift of the settlement to higher grounds. The local government, the Goolman Division, had its office in Flinders, but coming of the railway to Boonah resulted in the relocation of the Goolman Division to Boonah in 1888.[5]

High Street, Boonah, circa 1917

The Post Office was renamed Boonah around 1888.[8] In 1895 the school was renamed Boonah State School.[7] The Goolman Shire War Memorial was unveiled in Boonah (then part of the Goolman Shire) on 19 May 1920 by General Birdwood and Councillor Alexander John Tait McKay. It is known generally known as the Boonah War Memorial.[10] Initially only a primary school, Boonah State School had a secondary class added in February 1955, which it retained until 25 January 1965 when Boonah State High School opened.[6][7][11] Boonah was the centre of the Shire of Boonah local government area until council amalgamations occurred in 2008.

Heritage listings

Boonah has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

Dams

The Wyaralong Dam was constructed east of Boonah on Teviot Brook, a tributary of the Logan River. At full supply level, water would have inundated parts of the road connecting Boonah and Beaudesert, so a new section of road has been built.[15] Water for the town is supplied from Lake Moogerah on Reynold's Creek, a tributary of the Bremer River. Maroon Dam is another reservoir built 25 kilometres (16 mi) south of Boonah at the base of the McPherson Range.

Climate

Boonah experiences sub-tropical climatic conditions typically with warm wet summers and mild dry winters. Boonah township is approximately 80 metres above sea level. Average annual rainfall for the region is 866 mm, equating to an average of 89 days of rainfall. Temperatures range between daytime averages of mid thirty degrees Celsius in summer, to low twenty degrees Celsius in winter.

Agriculture

The area produces vegetables for the nearby Brisbane Markets notably carrots, potatoes, and cereal crops. Beef, pork and timber are also produced locally. In the 2000/01 financial year the Shire of Boonah produced $67 million worth of agricultural products.[16] More than 135,000 hectares of farmland were used to produce about $20 million worth of crops and $46 million from livestock.[16] Vegetables accounted for more than 20% of agricultural products in the area. The main crops were carrots, French and runner beans, lucerne and potatoes. The shire produced 7% of the state's hay and 8% of the state's soybeans.[17] Dairy cows, meat cattle, meat chicken and pigs were the main livestock commodities, producing 1% of the total value of the state's production in these commodities.[17] Nearly two-thirds of the recorded food and fibre businesses in the Boonah area produced beef cattle. More than 180 farms used irrigation.[16] The town has a local office of Primary Industries and Fisheries.

Media

The town is serviced by the daily newspaper The Queensland Times and the weekly newspaper The Fassifern Guardian.

Education

The Bremer Institute of TAFE had a campus at Boonah, which has operated at limited functionality for several years due to cutbacks. Bremer has since merged into TAFE South Queensland and the Boonah campus has closed.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Boonah (Urban Centre/Locality)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  2. ↑ "Boonah (town) (entry 3730)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  3. ↑ "Boonah (locality) (entry 45116)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  4. 1 2 Queensland Environmental Protection Agency (2000). Heritage Trails of the Great South East. State of Queensland. p. 37. ISBN 0-7345-1008-X.
  5. 1 2 3 "Boonah". Queensland Places. Centre for the Government of Queensland, University of Queensland. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  6. 1 2 "Opening and closing dates of Queensland Schools". Queensland Government. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Agency ID4991, Boonah State School". Queensland State Archives. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  8. 1 2 Premier Postal History. "Post Office List". Premier Postal Auctions. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  9. ↑ A Short History of the Fassifern Branch Line Armstrong, J. Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, February 1969 pp. 26—47
  10. ↑ "Boonah War Memorial". Monument Australia. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  11. ↑ "Agency ID4873, Boonah State High School". Queensland State Archives. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 "Local Heritage Register" (PDF). Scenic Rim Regional Council. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
  13. ↑ "Coochin Coochin Homestead (entry 600034)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  14. ↑ "Boonah War Memorial and Memorial Park (entry 600035)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  15. ↑ Queensland Water Infrastructure Pty Ltd – Wyaralong Dam Project
  16. 1 2 3 "An overview of food and fibre industries for Boonah and Beaudesert Shires" (PDF). Food and Fibre Futures Project. Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries. March 2007. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  17. 1 2 "Regional Agricultural Profile – South East Queensland NRM Region: Agricultural profile of Boonah Shire" (PDF). Derived from the Agricultural Census 2000–01. The State of Queensland. Retrieved 16 September 2012.

External links

Media related to Boonah, Queensland at Wikimedia Commons

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Boonah.
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