Toogoolawah
Postcode: 4313
Toogoolawah is a small town in Queensland, Australia. Toogoolawah is a centre for gliding and parachuting. It is locally known as “To two galahs”. Cressbrook Creek, a tributary of the Brisbane River, passes through the town. The town is located in the Esk Shire Local Government Area.
The extension of the Brisbane Valley Branch Railway from Esk to the new town (18.69 km) was opened on 8th February 1904. James Henry McConnel, owner of Cresbrook station, suggested the name Bakewell after a village in Derbyshire, England, for the new town and railway station. The Railways Department however favoured the use of Aboriginal names, so McConnel then suggested Toogoolawah, the Aborigines’ name for the locality in the Brisbane suburb of Bulimba where McConnel’s town house was situated.
Toogoolawah is derived from the Aboriginal words “dhoo” (a generic term for tree) and “goo/lawa”, meaning “crescent shaped” or “bent like a crescent moon”. The name probably referred to a tree with a deformed trunk which stood on the site in Bulimba, rather than to the supposed shape outlined by the Brisbane River as it rounds Bulimba Point, as has been alleged.
A Toogoolawah receiving office was opened in June, 1904 and was elevated to post office status in July, 1905. Toogoolawah State School opened on 30th May, 1905.