Toogoolawah Queensland
Toogoolawah Queensland is a step back in time. Experience the small rural town of Toogoolawah where old meets new.
Fancy sitting on the restored canvas chairs in a historic picture theatre? If so, see the latest blockbusters from the comfort of Alexandra Hall.
View contemporary art at the Somerset Regional Art Gallery – The Condensery. This was once the historic Nestlé condensed milk packing shed.
Explore the town’s history at the old railway museum. Or watch the town come alive at the monthly railway markets.
Take a stroll along the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail which runs through the town. Also discover the great cafes and gifts shops.
Toogoolawah in the past
Toogoolawah’s population exceeded 1000 people during the 1920s. Pugh’s Queensland directory (1925) recorded:
- Three hotels,
- The Brisbane Valley Advertiser office,
- Two sawmills,
- Numerous tradespeople and
- A range of shops and storekeepers.
A progress association contributed to the completion of the Alexandra Hall (school of arts). It also helped with the reticulation of electricity generated by the Nestlé factory. A Rural School (trades and agriculture) was opened in 1928.
Toogoolawah, along with Mount Beppo to the south-east, are good for vegetable growing. Mount Beppo’s fertile slopes were cleared of pine scrub, mainly by German settlers, in the 1880s. These areas were ideal for maize and potatoes. In 1947 there were 80 or more potato growers in the Toogoolawah district. The Nestlé condensary, however, closed in 1930.
The decline of dairying in the Brisbane Valley in the 1960s was reflected in a loss of the town’s population. Steady recovery began in the late 1980s. In addition to the rural/residential lifestyle there are recreational attractions at the Somerset and Wivenhoe Dams. Land resumptions for Wivenhoe (1970s) were financially beneficial to dairy farmers, some of whom moved into town. Unfortunately the resumptions took some of the best agricultural land.
Toogoolawah Today
Toogoolawah now has:
- A show ground,
- Golf course,
- Bowls and swimming venues,
- The Alexandra Hall,
- Several churches,
- State primary (1905) and high (1988) schools,
- Two hotels and local shops.
Cressbrook homestead (dating from a slab-built construction in 1843), east of Toogoolawah, is on the Australian heritage register. Listed on the Queensland heritage register are two precincts. One comprising McConnel park, with pioneer and war memorials. The other is the Anglican St Andrew’s church, hall and rectory.
Toogoolawah Queensland is the closest town to the Watts Bridge Airstrip.
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Toogoolawah QLD, Australia
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