and Main Range (Great Dividing Range) of the
Scenic Rim can be seen.
Ugarapul the Aboriginal language of South-East Queensland.the name and dialect of a clan that is used within the local government boundaries of
City of Ipswich,
Lockyer Valley Region and
Somerset Region. The history of
Boonah township is connected to the nearby settlement of
Dugandan which was named after the Dugandan pastoral run that was taken up in August 1844 by Macquarie McDonald and his brother Campbell Livingstone McDonald. Dugandan was one of the earliest pastoral holdings in
Queensland. In its early years the area was stocked with sheep but the region was discovered to be well suited for cattle and over time became renowned for the quality of its beef and dairy herds. In 1873, part of the Coochin Coochin pastoral run was acquired by Frederick Macarthur Bowman who named his property Denelgin. Frederick Bowman took advantage of the suitability of the area for cattle and is considered one of the dairying pioneers of the region. Variously known as
Dugandan Scrub and
Blumbergville, Boonah was also positioned within the boundaries of the early Dugandan property. Following the introduction of the Crown Lands Alienation Act of 1868 and the subdivision of the large pastoral runs, the settlement fell within the boundaries of a new 320 acre property acquired by John Hooper in 1878. As late as 1888, the courts of petty sessions were described as occurring at "Boonah, otherwise known as Blumbergville". The Dugandan Provisional School opened on 15 July 1878 between Dugandan Scrub and Dugandan Flats next to the
Teviot Brook on land which would eventually fall within the boundaries of the Blumbergville/Boonah township. (A separate Dugandan State School operated between 1917 and 1966 in Dugandan). The
Fassifern railway line (Queensland's first branch railway line) opened from
Ipswich to
Harrisville on 10 July 1882. On 12 September 1887 the line was extended to Dugundan with Boonah being served by
Boonah railway station in Yeates Avenue (). The line closed in June 1964. There is a memorial to the railway line in Yeates Avenue at the back of the Commercial Hotel (). The town takes its name from the railway station and is an Aboriginal word referring ether to the Bloodwood tree (
Eucalyptus Corymbosa) or the Brigalow tree (
Acacia harpadhylla). Thomas Hardcastle donated of land for a church on Old Mount Alford Road near the former Dugandan Bridge. There was a ceremonial cutting of the first sod on Saturday 23 December 1882 by Miss Jessie Hardcastle. The church was and built by George Beverley and T. Austin. It was officially opened on 4 November 1883. In 1892 concerns about flooding led to fundraising to relocate the church to the southern end of High Street in Boonah (now the location of the manse). Eventually that church building became too small for the congregation so a new church was built at 9 Church Street () and was officially opened on Sunday 10 November 1907. In 1908 the old church building was relocated to
Kalbar. Following the amalgamation of the Methodist Church into the Uniting Church in Australia, a new Uniting Church building was built at 10 Macquarie Street (). The church building in Church Street was sold to the
Salvation Army and was subsequently sold into private ownership. Around 1884, the Blumbergville Post Office was opened. In 1887, the railway line from Ipswich was extended to the area, with the name Boonah given to a rail siding at Blumbergville The railway siding took its name from an Aboriginal word from the Yuggera and Yugumbir language groups meaning bloodwood tree (
Corymbia gummifera) or Brigalow tree (
Acacia harpophylla). Following devastating floods in 1887, The Post Office was renamed Boonah around 1888. On 7 July 1956 Archbishop
Reginald Halse set a stone in the second church building being erected dedicating the new church as a memorial to the martyrs of the New Guinea Mission and those who died in
World War I,
World War II and the
Korean War. The second church as dedicated in 1960 and consecrated in 1961. The original church continues to be used as a church hall. By the end of 1900, the Fassifern Butter Factory owned by Mr. S. Dover was operating in Church Street. On 5 July 1916 a larger state-of-the-art factory with a separate office building, known as the
Boonah Butter Factory was officially opened on a new site on the northern entry to the town by the
Queensland Governor Hamilton Goold-Adams. The Boonah Butter Factory closed on 1 March 1974 due to declining production as a result of low prices for milk and shifting agricultural practices in the region. Miss Esme Clarke's Private School opened in 1905 in a room was rented from All Saints Church. It closed in 1910. 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 generally known as the Boonah War Memorial. 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. All Saints' Catholic Primary School was constructed in 1956 using volunteer labour. It was officially opened on 4 November 1956 by
Archbishop James Duhig. It was operated by the
Sisters of Mercy until 1989 when it passed to the
lay leadership of principal Kathleen Lambourne. Boonah was the centre of the
Shire of Boonah local government area until council amalgamations occurred in 2008. == Demographics ==