Other Towns

Brightview

In the years of early pastoral settlement the Brightview area was known as Tarampa Flats.  Later, when the land was subdivided for closer settlement, the German Lutheran pioneer families gave it the name Lobethal meaning "valley of praise".  It is not known why the name Lobethal was changed to Brightview, but it is possible that the postal authorities requested a change to avoid confusion with another place in South Australia which is also known as Lobethal.  Brightview had a post office from 1924 to 1969 and there was also a Brightview State School which is now closed.

Bryden

Bryden District was previously known as Deep Creek after a tributary of the Brisbane River.  The Deep Creek receiving office open in 1878 and at the request of the electoral office the name was changed to Bryden in 1917, apparently to obviate confusion with another district in Queensland also known as Deep Creek.

The Bryden receiving office was designated a post office in 1927 and closed in 1970.  The name of Deep Creek State School was also changed to Bryden State School.  According to a note on the Queensland place name committee card the name Bryden was suggested by local residents to honour the memory of an early selector to the district.

Bryden was also known at times as Booie or Booie Rock, supposedly after a high rocky wall on the left bank of the Brisbane River.  It is possible that the name Booie was an Aboriginal word meaning 'carpet snake'.

Colinton

Colinton is situated 6km north from the junction of the Brisbane Valley and D'Aguilar Highways. Colinton took its name from Colinton the pastoral station established in 1841 by the Balfour brothers. The Balfours named Colinton after the village of Colinton on the south western outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland from whence they had emigrated. There was a surveyed town of Colinton as well as a Colinton State School 1907 to 1969. Colinton receiving office opened in 1878 and became a post office in 1913. 

Coolana

Coolana was once known as Hillside and there was a Hillside receiving office from 1898 to about 1916.  Another receiving office was opened in 1923, however the name was changed to the Coolana receiving office to avoid confusion with another Hillside district south of Ipswich.  No English meaning is known for Coolana which is thought to be Aboriginal and was suggested by local residents. 

Eskdale

Surveyor F W Ellis laid out sections one to six of a town on the right bank of Cressbrook Creek about 14 kilometres north west of Esk.   This township lay between Cressbrook Creek and the Crows Nest Road and extended along the road for about 1 kilometre between the Biarra hall and the site of the former Biarra School.

The plan for Eskdale was lodged in September 1888.  In spite of the official adoption of the name Eskdale for the surveyed town, local residents always referred to the place as Biarra.  It is likely that the name Eskdale was chosen because another town called Biarra had been surveyed 2 years previously beside the main north road about 3 kilometres north of the present site of Toogoolawah and 13 kilometres north north east of Eskdale.

Glamorgan Vale

Glamorgan Vale was formerly a premier dairying area with over 100 farms. The area developed with the formation of the Glamorgan Vale Water Board in 1967.

Harlin

Harlin is situated 14km north of Toogoolawah on the Brisbane Valley Highway. Harlin was originally a private township on the Colinton estate, and is said to have derived its name from the second given name of William Harlin Moore, son of John Moore of "Colinton Station". Harlin receiving office was opened at the township in 1905, and was elevated to a post office in 1907. The Yimbun-Linville section of the Brisbane Valley Branch Railway (27km) and the Harlin railway station were opened in 1910. Harlin State School was opened in 1908 and is still open. 

Minden - Population 200

The town and district is situated on part of the original Tarampa run which was taken up by Charles Cameron in 1847. In the pastoral days the site was generally referred to as Back Plain. A receiving office called Rosewood Scrub was opened there in 1878, but the name was changed to Minden in 1879, after the town of Minden in the Kingdom of Westphalia in north-western Germany.

Many of the early agricultural settlers were German immigrants. As a result of the anti-German feeling during the first world war, the name of the town and district was changed to Frenchton in October, 1916. The name Minden was restored in April, 1930.

Mount Tarampa

The name Mount Tarampa is given both to a volcanic plug 159 metres high and also the surrounding district.  Both are located on the northern side of Lockyer Creek at the southern end of the Shire near the boundary with Laidley Shire.  The name Tarampa is of Aboriginal derivation and means "Place of wild lime trees".  It is not clear whether the name Tarampa originally referred to the hill Mount Tarampa or the site of the Old Tarampa Homestead, five kilometres away to the east on the opposite side of Lockyer Creek.

There was a Mount Tarampa post office from 1924 to 1953 and there is still a Mount Tarampa State School that opened in 1906.  At different times two receiving offices using other names have operated in the Mount Tarampa District.  From 1886 to 1888 the Lockyer Creek receiving office was located at a crossing point on Lockyer Creek on the bank immediately opposite Tarampa Homestead near where Lyons Bridge was later built.  The Mountain Home receiving office was opened from 1907 to 1919 at a point about one kilometre north west of Mount Tarampa.

Prenzlau

Prenzlau is located in the Lockyer Valley at the extreme southern end of Esk Shire.  This area was settled by German immigrants, some of whom had formerly lived near the town of Prenzlau (situated around 95 kilometres north north east of Berlin).  The name of Prenzlau was given to their new home to remind them of their homeland.

The Prenzlau State School was opened in 1894 and there was a Prenzlau post office from 1894 to 1968.

Tarampa

Tarampa is a farming district on the southern side of Lockyer Creek, opposite the Mount Tarampa district.  Tarampa derives its name from the Tarampa Run which had been taken up in 1847.  The Tarampa State School opened in 1880 and a receiving office later to become a Post Office opened in 1881.

Tarampa Station homestead was on the south bank of Lockyer Creek about 600 metres wouth east of the present location of Lyon's Bridge.