The area was first settled in the mid-nineteenth century for the purposes of farming and grazing. Glenvale State School opened on 18 July 1882. The original school building remains in use as the Resource Centre. On Sunday 3 April 1955, the Glenvale Presbyterian Church Hall was officially opened by the Right Reverend Rowellyn Ramsay, the Queensland Presbyterian Moderator. The Toowoomba Christian Parent Controlled Day School Association was established in 1991 to establish a school based on Christian values as there was a shortage of places in the existing church schools in the Toowoomba area. The association opened Glenvale Christian School on 28 January 1997 in the Toowoomba Christian Reformed Church. The Royal Agricultural Society of Queensland's
Toowoomba Show has been held on the showground at Glenvale since 1985. The first Toowoomba Show was held in July 1862, making it the longest-running agricultural show in Queensland. The showground was moved from the corner of Bridge and Mary Streets near the
Queens Park reserve and
City Botanic Gardens. Motivations for the move included lack of space, the need to rebuild run-down infrastructure, lack of space for camping and parking, and noise complaints from nearby residents. From the early 1990s onwards, Glenvale experienced rapid residential development. Circa July 2017, the Lifeworks Uniting Church opened in Glenvale, being a merger of three former Uniting Church congregations:
Newtown, Scots and
Westbrook. At the start of 2001, the Darling Downs Christian School relocated to Glenvale to accommodate the growing number of students. == Demographics ==