The locality was originally known as '''Murphy's Waterhole
and Fingal'''. Peter Murphy was a convict assigned as a servant to
Patrick Leslie and accompanied Leslie on his 1841-42 exploration of the
Darling Downs. Murphy was highly regarded by Leslie and arranged for the
Governor of New South Wales to pardon Murphy. Murphys Creek developed as a
railway town on the line between the regional city of
Toowoomba and settlements to the east, including
Helidon,
Ipswich and
Brisbane. A railway station in the town was opened in 1867, as a part of the Ipswich-Toowoomba segment of the Southern and Western Railway. Based at the foot of the Great Dividing Range, the station and water tank were intended to provide water and services for steam locomotives about to embark on the difficult journey up the steep slopes of the Toowoomba range. The station was named for a creek that ran through the area, that was in turn named for a shepherd who had built a hut in the area around 1864. A correspondent for the Brisbane Courier newspaper around this time described the site as a "feeding place for the engines" travelling to and from Toowoomba. Murphy's Creek Post Office opened on 18 May 1868 and closed in 1987. Residents began to lobby for a school in June 1870. Murphy's Creek Provisional School opened on 3 October 1870. In January 1871 it was announced that a state school building and teacher's residence would be erected. The new school building was opened on 1 May 1871 and the school became Murphy's Creek State School. A small town, originally named
Fingal, quickly sprang up around the station. The township had grown such an extent that by 1877 tenders had been called for the construction of a booking office and passenger platform at the station. These improvements were completed by 1878. However, in 1887 a fire at the station destroyed the lamp room and ladies' waiting room. In 1917 the station ceased to be used as a watering station for trains travelling up the range, with watering stations being provided elsewhere on the line (although a 40,000 litre emergency water tank was constructed at the station in 1921 for emergency purposes). The township was officially renamed from Fingal to Murphys Creek on 17 January 1924. The need to maintain the Murphys Creek railway station diminished in the second half of the 20th century with the introduction of the diesel-electric locomotive. These new trains were capable of climbing the steep slopes west of Murphys Creek without the requirement for attached locomotives. Steam operations had ceased completely on the line by the mid 1960s, and the station was finally closed in 1992, == Demographics ==