Toowong
Postcode: 4066
Toowong is an inner suburb of Brisbane, Australia which is located 5 km west from of the Brisbane CBD. At the centre of Toowong is a commercial precinct including Toowong Village and several office buildings. The remainder of the suburb is predominantly residential with a mix of medium density dwellings and detached houses.
The Brisbane General Cemetery, started in 1866 and formally opened in 1875, is Queensland’s largest cemetery, placed on 437,300 square metres of land. It replaced Brisbane’s first cemetery which was located near Skew Street in the centre of Brisbane under the Suncorp Stadium Site. The cemetery contains a sign posted walk that provides information on various people buried in the cemetery. Brisbane Boys’ College is a day boarding school established in Clayfield in 1901. In the late twenties it was decided that there were insufficient facilities at the Clayfield location, and the school was moved to Toowong on Kensington Terrace.
Toowong has two main drinking establishments, the Regatta Hotel and the Royal Exchange Hotel, both of which are historic hotels. The three storey Regatta hotel contained accommodation on the upper two floors and a public bar and lounge area on the ground floor. In 1965 a protest took place in the public bar of the Regatta Hotel when Merle Thornton (mother of Australian actress Sigrid Thornton) and another woman chained themselves to the bar in protest of public bars in Queensland being restricted to men only. Built in 1986, Toowong Village is an office tower and shopping centre situated at the centre of Toowong. The blue glass office tower is a prominent landmark visible from Toowong and surrounding suburbs. The shopping centre situated on the lower levels of the office tower contains the Toowong Railway Station, Brisbane City Library and the standard mix of retail stores.
Toowong belongs to the local council Toowong Ward which also includes parts of surrounding suburbs. The current councillor, Judy Magub of the Liberal party, has a background in healthcare and has represented the Toowong ward since 1994. Denver Beanland represented the Toowong Ward from 1986 until 1992. Toowong is split between two State government electorial divisions, Indooroopilly and the Mount Coot-tha. Toowong belongs to the federal government electorial division of Ryan.