The first known people to have lived on the land surrounding Pittsworth are the
Giabal people. Situated on the Darling Downs, Pittsworth owes its existence to that great explorer and botanist
Allan Cunningham who in early June 1827 discovered and named the area around
Warwick and to the north, the Darling Downs. Early settlement was driven by the taking up of land for the Beauaraba pastoral station. The town grew up around a wayside hotel, named the Beauaraba, which attracted itinerant rural workers and local landholders. In 1877, were resumed from the Beauaraba pastoral run and offered for selection on 17 April 1877. The
Millmerran railway line reached the town in 1877 with the Pittsworth railway station serving the town, being called named in honour of Charles William Pitts, a pastoralist who established the Goombungee pastoral run in 1854. Beauaraba State School opened on 5 May 1882. On 4 November 1889, it was renamed Pittsworth State School. At the 50th anniversary celebrations in 1932, "there was a large attendance, and 50 or more trees were planted. Mr. W. P. Adam, who for 14 years was head teacher of the school, but is now retired, called the roll of the school of 50 years ago, and the following-answered "present": Percy Cornford, William Carter. J. Muir, W. Muir, a Kirkup, and Mrs. J. Oarliach." From 3 February 1958 the school also offered secondary education, until a separate secondary school opened in 1967. The school celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1982 with the publication of a history of the school. Beauaraba Post Office opened on 1 November 1882 (a
receiving office had been open from 1880). It was renamed Pittsworth in 1886. The first St Andrew's Anglican Church was designed by the prominent Toowoomba architect John Marks in 1888-89. It was at 18 Murray Street. The foundation stone of the second St Andrew's Anglican Church was laid on 3 November 1912, and the building was consecrated on 7 October 1913 by
Archbishop St Clair Donaldson. After a number of years of pastoral settlement, the town was established and slowly grew to offer services for the surrounding agricultural industries. The Co-operative Dairy Company opened in 1896. It was noted by the correspondent for the
Darling Downs Gazette that "the milk brought by the suppliers is of a very high quality, comparing favourably with the highest tests in the colony. The cheese turned out of this factory, I may state, is of excellent quality, and is finding a ready market throughout many of the Northern towns." The church officially opened on 5 May 1901.The first Pittsworth Show was held in March 1902, and opened by the
Lieutenant-Governor, Sir
Samuel Griffith, and attended by an estimated 2,500 people. The foundation stone of St Stephen's Catholic church was laid in 1908. The church was opened 12 December 1909. By 1914, Pittsworth had a number of dairy factories which were producing about 80 per cent of all the cheese being manufactured on the Darling Downs. In 1923, the Pittsworth Dairy Company made a single block of cheddar cheese weighing 3360 lb which was shipped to the Queensland exhibit at the Empire Exhibition at Wembley Park. Pittsworth was declared a local authority in 24 April 1913, separating from
Jondaryan. The first council meeting was held at the Lyceum Hall Pittsworth on 9 July 1913, A new council office and hall was constructed in 1914 at a cost of £766. The town was originally known as Beauaraba, with the name was officially changed to be Pittsworth in 1915.On Sunday 6 August 1916,
Archbishop James Duhig officially opened and dedicated a convent for the
Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart and a Catholic primary school that the Sisters would operate. Over 2,000 people attended the event. There were 40 initial enrolments, growing to 180 by the end of 1916. The school was known as St Joseph's Convent School until a new school was built in 1958 and named St Stephen's Catholic School. The Sisters operated the school until 1981 after which the school continued with
lay teachers. The convent building at 26 Weale Street had been used for some years as a parish centre, and was listed by the Pittsworth Shire Council for its heritage values, but the church was unable to afford the upkeep of the building, and it was sold for relocation in December 2013, being taken to 1154 Yandina Coolum Road,
Maroochy River and restored as a private residence. The school celebrated its centenary in August 2016 including the publication of a school history. The Pittsworth Branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association opened in 1924. At the meeting held in the Masonic Hall to consider opening a branch in Pittsworth, the Darling Downs organiser,
Mrs. Fairfax, explained that "the main object of members was to work for their sisters that were less fortunate than themselves, and spoke of the benefits of the reduced railway fares, the education of children out back, the homes at the seaside, and the bush nurses, and various other branches of work that is handled by the Association." The first President was Mrs. H.C. Hodgson. In May 1930, a Soldiers Memorial School of Arts was officially opened. Pittsworth State High School opened on 23 January 1967, replacing the secondary schooling being provided at Pittsworth State School since 1958. On 7 January 2016, around 2:30 am, a fire broke out at Pittsworth's iconic Tattersalls Club Hotel, which was built about 1900. One person died in the fire. The hotel was engulfed by flames by the time fire crews arrived, and was unable to be saved. == Demographics ==