Graceville
Postcode: 4075
Graceville is a suburb in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is located 8kms south-west of the Brisbane CBD. Graceville is bordered by the Brisbane River to the North-East and West, Oxley Creek to the East, Chelmer to the North and Sherwood to the South.
The suburb is centered around its own railway station on the Ipswich railway line. The suburb is predomiantely residential, with houses generally being in the Queenslander style. The main roads in Graceville are Oxley Road, Graceville Avenue and Honour Avenue. Graceville has two primary schools, Graceville State School which is public and Christ the King which is a private Catholic school. The suburb also has a number of parks (Simpson’s Playground, Graceville Memorial Park, Faulkner Park).
The Brisbane suburb of Graceville was shown on early colonial maps as Boyland’s Pocket – a large lease held by a Captain Boyland.
The land was highly productive and yielded a wide range of crops, including sugar, bananas and vegetables, while large beef herds ranged on the neighbouring Sherwood cattle station.
Most of the large holdings survived until Federation, which led to the abolition of long-standing leases and widespread sub-division. On the banks of the Brisbane River, the suburb of Graceville came into being when the local Member of Parliament, Samuel Grimes, gave his youngest daughter Grace’s name to the area.
Befitting its ‘river island’ setting, Graceville is generously endowed with recreational parkland. Pride of the local green belt is the Bert St Clair Oval and reserve on Graceville Avenue. Perched on the junction of Brisbane River and Oxley Creek, the reserve embraces scout halls and a bike track and canoe trail on which visitors can work up an appetite for a relaxing BBQ picnic.