Boonah, Queensland

Boonah is both a town and a locality of the Scenic Rim Region in south-eastern Queensland, Australia. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 2,474.

Geography

The town is positioned near the Fassifern Valley, McPherson Range and Main Range. It is surrounded by hills, including Mount French and other Moogerah Peaks. Frog Buttress is a popular rock climbing cliff on the north-west side of Mount French.

History

Originally the area was known as Dugandan, after a farm that was occupied as early as 1844. Another early pastoral run was Coochin Coochin station. Dugandan Provisional School opened on 15 July 1878. By 1882, the settlement was developing as a service centre for the surrounding farms. It became known as Blumbergville. On 30 May 1887, the school was upgraded to State School status.Blumbergville Post Office opened around 1884.

The railway line from Ipswich was extended to the area in 1887, with the name Boonah given to a rail siding. The main commercial centre moved from Dugandan at the railway terminus, to Boonah after floods forced a shift of the settlement to higher grounds. The local government, the Goolman Division, had its office in Flinders, but coming of the railway to Boonah resulted in the relocation of the Goolman Division to Boonah in 1888.