According to
Queensland State Library, Ithaca Creek was named after the birthplace of
Lady Diamantina Roma Bowen, wife of
Sir George Ferguson Bowen, British colonial administrator, the 1st Governor of Queensland (in office 1859–1868). This appears to be in error as, according to the
Australian Dictionary of Biography Diamantina was borne on Zante, another of the
Ionian Islands. The Ionian Islands, now part of
Greece, was a British protectorate at the time and likely referred to collectively rather than individually.
Ithaca in Greece has one of the world's largest natural harbours and is famous in legend as
Homer's Ithaca, the home of
Ulysses, whose delayed return to the island is one of the plot elements of the
Odyssey.
James Joyce's novel
Ulysses sets the story of the wandering Ulysses on one day in
Dublin in the early 20th century. Ithaca Creek was briefly considered as a potential main water supply for Brisbane but overlooked in favour of Enoggera Creek, upon which
Enoggera Dam was constructed.
Nathan Avenue Land on Ithaca Creek at present day Nathan Avenue, named after Queensland Governor
Sir Matthew Nathan, was owned at one time by
Charles James Graham (Under Secretary for Public Instruction until 1878). The land was subdivided in the late 1920s. It once joined Bruce Esplanade, named after Australia’s Prime Minister
Stanley Bruce. During the
Great Depression in the 1930s and World War 2 from 1939 to 1945, the land was owned by the Gramenz family. After 1947 it became part of a technical college known as the Ithaca campus of TAFE. In 2016 the 8000sqm creekside property was sold to
TriCare Limited for $5.4 million for redevelopment as an aged-care facility. ==Ithaca Intact==