QLDPlanned settlement
Toowong
A riverside villa village between Toowong Reach and Mount Coot-tha.
1862Village of Toowong recognised
WHAT STARTED IT
Toowong lies between the Brisbane River’s Toowong Reach and the slopes of Mount Coot-tha, on the road west out of Brisbane. Farm blocks sold in the 1850s gave way to villa estates along the river and ridges, and by 1862 the village of Toowong was a recognised place.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
The foothills were chosen for Brisbane’s general cemetery, where Governor Blackall was buried in 1871, and estates were sold beside the new Toowong railway station before the Ipswich line opened in 1875. Toowong became a shire in 1880, with Augustus Gregory as first chairman, and joined Greater Brisbane in 1925.
TURNING POINTS
1862The village of Toowong is recognised as a place on the road west of Brisbane.
1871Governor Blackall becomes the first burial at the new general cemetery.
1875The Ipswich railway opens with a station at Toowong; the Regatta Hotel opens.
1880The Shire of Toowong is proclaimed.
1925Toowong joins Greater Brisbane.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
An inner-western suburb with a busy station, the Toowong Village shopping centre and the heritage-listed Toowong Cemetery. The Regatta Hotel of 1875 still faces the river on Coronation Drive.