Dayboro, Queensland

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Dayboro is a village in the Pine Rivers Shire in Queensland, Australia, approximately 36km (22mi) north-northwest of Brisbane City.

To the north of Dayboro lies the D'Aguilar Range and the mountain township of Mount Mee. Other nearby towns include Petrie and Samford. The land surrounding the town supports avocado and pineapple plantations, as well as dairy cattle. The scenic countryside is a spectacular destination for motoring enthusiasts, with hilly backroads through rolling paddocks and forestry.

There are several routes worth travelling, including Lees Crossing Road, which runs off the end of Laidlaw Street on the southern outskirt of the town. This route takes you along some narrow, winding (mostly bitumen) roads to reconnect with Mount Samson Road at Kobble Creek. A good route to take if you enjoy Grand Touring. If you have a 4X4 and a relevant permit, the Mt Mee State Forestry is also worth a look, with entrances from the foothills at the end of Mt Pleasant Road, or from Mt Mee Road.

While you are in Dayboro, it's worth stopping at one of the roadside stalls for some local produce, including strawberries, pineapples and watermelons to name a few. The Dayboro Rodeo and Dayboro Show usually occur between May and July every year, as well as 'Dayboro Day', celebrating the towns unique rural heritage so close to the Brisbane CBD.

[edit] History

Dayboro was first known as Hamilton, having been so named after a farmer, Hugh Hamilton, who was appointed Receiving Officer for mail in 1875. In 1892, it became known as Terrors Creek from the creek on which it is situated. The creek and the adjoining area, which became known as Terrors Paddock, derived their names from a grey Arab stallion, Terah, owned in the 1850s by Captain John Griffin of the Whiteside run. Dayboro's large population of indigenous tribes were systematically wiped out during this era, although much of the loss of lfe was chalked up to introduced disease.

In 1917, however, as the Postmaster General declared that Terrors Creek sounded too much like Torrens Creek, once again, the township acquired a new name. Although the first known inhabitant, John McKenzie, operated a pit sawmill just south of the townsite from 1866, the third and final name selected for Dayboro honours another notable early settler, William Henry Day. Day was Clerk of Petty Sessions and later Police Magistrate in Brisbane. He first selected land in the Dayboro area in the late 1860s and pioneered sugar growing on his extensive properties in the district.

Settlement subsequently spread north and south along the North Pine River as more than 100 people took up selections in the Terrors Creek area. Timber, maize, vegetables and dairy products provided the main income for the settlers. The failure of Day's sugar growing experiment within a few years brought about the gradual breaking up of his large land holdings and facilitated the further development of the area. A store and hotel, the nucleus of the town, were established in the early 1890s and these were followed by a sawmill around 1900 and the Silverwood Butter Factory in 1903.

In 1915, in an article urging the extension of the railway from Enoggera to Terror's Creek, the township was described as "being set prettily on a hillside, and being the centre of miles of agricultural, dairying and fruit lands". According to the article [Australian Pastoralist, Grazing Farmers' and Selectors' Gazette, September 1915, Supplement, pp.2-3], there was "an up-to-date butter factory, bank, several stores, an excellent hotel, a large sawmill, public hall, etc., and a community ever ready to co-operate in the advancement of their district". The opening of the railway on 25 September 1920 greatly facilitated the transport of goods to Brisbane and was of great benefit to the district. The railway continued to operate until 1 July 1955 when it closed due to declining traffic.

From the 1950's to present day, Dayboro has evolved into a large rural hamlet, with a number of large housing estates built since the late 1980's on the outskirts of the town. The town centre has also seen a lot of new development and now has a supermarket, several cafes and boutique stores, as well as the famous Dayboro Bakery - which sells the best meat pies on the range - and the Dayboro Butchers, which was once a mecca for sausage lovers. The current owner still produces a wide variety of interesting combinations - including kangaroo.