In July 1853, John Little and his family made camp with their large herd of sheep overlanded from
New South Wales and selected a site overlooking a large creek (now known as
Baffle Creek). John Little's wife, Catherine, suggested the name "Rosedale" for the property and a vertical slab house, stock yards, sheep pens and "other barricades against the blacks" was constructed in 1854. Lieutenant
John Murray of the
Native Police married John Little's daughter, Rachel. After a raid by the Native Police, the Murray family adopted an Aboriginal child who was found in a hollow log. On one occasion, the Littles themselves surprised "a large tribe of blacks..surprising them by discharging our firearms in the midst of them". On 29 August 1863 John Little was struck by a falling limb from a burning tree and died the next day. A headstone marks the grave sites on the property. Rosedale Station remained in the Little family until approximately 1979. From the late 19th century, closer settlement of Rosedale began with selectors taking up subdivisions of land. Rosedale Provisional School opened on 6 July 1896. On 1 January 1909 it became Rosedale State School. In 1964 a secondary department was added. On Tuesday 13 December 1920 the Rosedale and Tottenham war memorial commemorating the fallen in
World War I was unveiled by
John Fletcher, the Member of the
Queensland Legislative Assembly for
Port Curtis before a crowd of about 300 people. In 2004, a north-bound
tilt train derailed injuring 120 passengers. == Demographics ==