Boonah, Queensland

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	88 km (55 mi) SW of Brisbane 48 km (30 mi) S of Ipswich 41 km (25 mi) W of Beaudesert
LGA(s)	Scenic Rim Region
State electorate(s)	Beaudesert
Federal Division(s)	Wright
Localities around Boonah: Hoya Coulson Allandale Kents Pocket Boonah 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:

• 8-10 Church Street: Christ Church ^[12]
• Cossart Street and Macquarie Street: Boonah Showgrounds ^[12]
• 32 High Street: Australian Hotel ^[12]
• 39 High Street and Yeates Avenue: Commercial Hotel ^[12]
• J Bell Road: Coochin Coochin Homestead^[13]
• Park Street: Boonah War Memorial and Memorial Park^[14]
• 8 Railway Street: Flavour’s Café ^[12]

• 

  The Bell family of Coochin Coochin at the property, circa 1920

• 

  Boonah war memorial, 2008

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 has a campus at Boonah, which has operated at limited functionality for several years due to cutbacks.

See also

• Aratula
• Roadvale
• Kalbar

References

External links

Media related to Boonah, Queensland at Wikimedia Commons

• Dugandan: Queensland Places
• Boonah: Queensland Places
• Dugandan Trinity Lutheran cemetery
• Information about Boonah, Queensland