View from Picnic Point Lookout

Toowoomba (including Drayton and Highfields)
Gracious and historic city to the west of Brisbane.
There can surely be no city in Australia more dramatically located than Toowoomba. If you enter it from the south or west you get the impression that it is a rather large and pleasant city on some rather gently undulating country. If you enter it from the east it is clear that the city dangles on the edge of a plateau some 600-800 m above sea level. The Warrego Highway from Brisbane rises steeply up the escarpment and the city spreads from the edge of the escarpment to the west and south.

The poet Bruce Dawe lived in Toowoomba for most of the 1970s and immortalised this dramatic location in his excellent poem 'Provincial City'. His observations of the town included:

'Climbing the range
your ears pop like champagne...'
You can smell the peace up here.
The proportion, the narrowness...'
'It moves, but oh so slowly
you would have to sleep years,
waking suddenly once in a decade
to surprise it in the act of change.'

Located 128 km from Brisbane via the Warrego Highway, Toowoomba has an annual rainfall of 950 mm, its population is close to 85 000 (making it the largest inland town in Queensland and one of the largest in Australia) and it is anticipated that the population will exceed 100 000 by the year 2000. Over the years it has been known variously as the 'Regional Capital of the Darling Downs' (an accurate description) and 'The Garden City' (a fair description given the number of parks and public gardens and the proliferation of tree-lined streets). It celebrates this last description by holding the Carnival of Flowers every September.

The area around Toowoomba was first explored by Allan Cunningham who discovered and named the Darling Downs after the New South Wales Governor, Sir Ralph Darling.

Toowoomba as a township grew up in the 1840s as a convenient stopping point on the route from Moreton Bay (Brisbane) to the pastoral holdings to the west. It is easy to imagine bullockies, horsemen and itinerant rural workers stopping at the top of the hill after spending most of the day trudging up the steep slopes of Gorman's Gap.

The first settlement was at Drayton (which now is part of the southern suburbs of the city). It is a common name in England and was obviously named after one of at least a dozen Draytons in that country.

Drayton can lay claim to being the first town established beyond the Great Dividing Range in Queensland. It was settled in 1842 and by 1847 the Royal Bulls Head Inn had been built. It was a popular haunt for the local squatters and their workers. The first proprietor was William Horton, a convict from Worcestershire in England who, so rumour has it, was actually descended from the local aristocracy.

Drayton managed to have a separate life from Toowoomba until the 1860s when it was overwhelmed by the increasing importance of the nearby township. During that time however Drayton achieved a number of historic firsts. It was at Drayton that the first newspaper in the area, the Darling Downs Gazette, was published in 1858. That same year saw the construction and operation of the area's first sawmill. The following year saw the first sessions of the circuit court and the first race meeting and in 1866 the first Roman Catholic church was built. Darling Street, Drayton was the birthplace of Arthur Hoey Davis (14 November 1868) otherwise known as Steele Rudd who wrote On Our Selection and created the immortal characters of Dad and Dave. See Greenmount for more details.

In 1852 the squatter Thomas Alford settled to the north of Drayton and called his property Toowoomba. Slowly a settlement grew up in this area. Its original, and rather unromantic, name was 'The Swamp'. This was changed in 1858 although, ironically, it is claimed that the Aboriginal word 'toowoomba' means either 'the swamp' or a variety of melon which grew on the banks of the swamp. Some sources claim that it was a reference to the reeds on the edges of the swamp. These definitions are based on the notion that the name is a corruption of 'tchwampa' - the swamp, 'choowoom' - native melon, or 'woomba woomba' meaning 'reeds in the swamp'.

Toowoomba was officially declared a municipality in 1860, became a town in 1887 and was declared a city in 1904.

In the 1860s the town expanded rapidly and quickly outstripped the smaller Drayton. It was during this period that the railway reached Toowoomba (1867 - it did not reach Drayton until 1915), a branch of the Bank of New South Wales was opened, the gaol and Court House were built, and the School of Arts and numerous churches were built.

It was during the latter part of the nineteenth century after the arrival of the railway in 1867 (the Railway Station was built in 1874) that the town blossomed with large numbers of elegant Victorian buildings being erected and the trees, which are such a distinctive part of the city's appearance, being planted.

St Patricks Church

Things to see:  

Picnic Point Lookout
A first stop for anyone coming from Brisbane should be Picnic Point Lookout - signposted from the Warrego Highway on the eastern side of town. The Lookout, on the edge of the escarpment, offers superb views over the Lockyer Valley and the bare Tabletop Mountain dominates the landscape.

Parks and Gardens
This is but one of the parks within the city limits. Toowoomba boasts a total of 1044 hectares of parkland including the natural bushland escarpment Redwood Park and Jubilee Park and the centrally located Queens Park (owned by the Council since 1865) which includes mature trees and a number of playing fields. Next to Queens Park is the beautiful Botanical Gardens which are one of the highlights of the city's annual Carnival of Flowers festivities.

Botanical Gardens and Flower Displays
People interested in floral displays should visit the beautiful Botanical Gardens or the privately owned Leegray Azalea Nursery in Kuhls Road, Highfields - (07) 4630 8292 which specialises in azaleas and rhododendrons.

Webb Park and George Essex Evans
In Webb Park on Prince Henry Drive is a broken column monument to the local poet George Essex Evans (1863-1909). Now little known outside of Queensland he was recognised in his time as the equal of his contemporaries - Paterson, Lawson, Henry Kendall and Adam Lindsay Gordon and his poems 'The Women of the West', about the women pioneers of western Queensland, and a patriotic poem titled 'An Australian Symphony' were his most famous works.

Like Paterson and Lawson he had a delightful sense of outback humour as this sample from 'A Drought Idyll' indicates.

'McGinty left his pumpkin-pie and gazed upon the scene:
His cows stood propped 'gainst tree and fence wherever they could lean;
The horse he'd fixed with sapling forks had fallen down once more;
The fleas were hopping joyfully on stockyard, path, and floor;
The flies in thousands buzzed about before his waving hand;
The hungry pigs squealed as he said, 'Me own, me native land!'
'Queensland, me mother! Ain't yer well?' he asked. 'Come tell me how's - '
'Dry up! Dry up!' yelled Mrs Mac, 'Go out and feed the cows.'

A Walk in Toowoomba
Toowoomba has a surprisingly elegant and gracious city centre with many handsome old buildings, wide streets, and a level of sophistication which is uncharacteristic in what is basically a large country town.

The National Trust of Queensland has produced an inexpensive brochure titled A Walk and Drive of Toowoomba which takes visitors on a self guided conducted tour of the city's most elegant buildings. Included in the tour are the Post Office at 136 Margaret Street which was designed in an Italianate style by the Government Architect in 1878. Over the years it has been greatly altered but the clock tower and the two storey loggia are original features of this imposing building. At the time of construction it cost £8,100.

Nearby is the Court House which was built in the 1870s in the Classic Revival style. It is a suitable accompaniment to the Post Office. Over the road is the Strand Theatre which has a very distinctive semi-circular window and an unusual central balcony.

Toowoomba has a number of distinctive churches in the central business district. There's St Stephens Church in Neil Street which was built in 1884. There's the gothic magnificence of St Lukes (1891) on the corner of Ruthven and Herries Streets. And the gothic style of St Patricks Roman Catholic Church (1889) dominates James Street at the top of the town centre.

Historic Houses
The city also boasts a number of beautiful historic houses. The most famous of which are Vacy, Fernside, Clifford House, Tawa and Smithfield.

Vacy Hall
Vacy Hall in Russell Street is now an historic guest house. Built in the 1880s the house is characterised by beautiful bay windows, a magnificent surrounding garden, and extensive areas of patterned parquetry floors.

Fernside
Fernside in Prince Henry Drive between Margaret and Campbell streets is a large brick residence built in the early 1870s on a piece of land which, at the time, was 9.7 hectares and included a coach house and stables. In the early 1880s it was used as a summer retreat by Sir Arthur Kennedy, the Governor of Queensland (1877-1883).

Clifford House
Clifford House at 120 Russell Street, over the road from Vacy Hall, is recognised by many as Toowoomba's finest old home. Now functioning as a restaurant it was built in 1860 as a residential club for squatters. It is a superb example of the way stone and timber can be integrated with the sandstone providing the solidity of the building while the upstairs timber verandah is an almost delicate addition.

Tawa
Tawa in Boulton Street can be considered the oldest remaining cottage in Toowoomba. A small cottage built from home made bricks and with simple pit sawn timber floors and a shingle roof it was completed in the 1850s on a site originally owned by the famous pastoralist Thomas Mort.

Smithfield Homestead near Toowoomba

Smithfield Homestead
On the way out to Drayton there are signs to Smithfield Homestead in Panda Street. This historic home is now surrounded by ordinary suburbia.

It was designed by the architects J. Marks and Sons probably for the grazier and landowner James Taylor. It is by any measure a superb rural residence having been built in stone with wide verandahs and elegant paired timber columns.

The buildings most famous occupant was a successful German industrialist Oscar Flemmich who kept thoroughbred horses and employed a large number of grooms and servants. It is said that when he left the area he shot all his horses and dogs rather than let them go to another owner.

Cobb & Co Museum
Toowoomba's most notable tourist attraction is the Cobb & Co Museum at 27 Lindsay Street (07) 4639 1971 which is part of the Queensland Museum. It is open from 10.00-4.00 Monday-Friday and 1.00 p.m. - 4.00 p.m. on weekends and public holidays. It is more comprehensive than its name suggests tracing the history of horse drawn transportation in Australia from old timber wagons, spring wagons, and bullock drays through to the Cobb & Co coaches and the elegant Victoria and a landau used by the Duke of Edinburgh when he visited the colony in 1876. It has a total of 31 vehicles.

Royal Bulls Head Inn, Drayton
The Royal Bulls Head Inn was the location of the first Church of England church service on the Darling Downs when, in 1848, Rev Benjamin Glennie held a service in one of the rooms.

The building was extended in 1859 and for some time it was known as the best building on the Darling Downs. It was certainly good enough for the Governor of Queensland to stay the night.

Today this remarkable building, which through accident rather than any conservation intent remains much as it was in the mid nineteenth century, is owned by the National Trust. It is open from 10.00-4.00 from Thursday to Monday. The original 1847 kitchen, the rooms of the hotel, and the interior have all been lovingly restored and preserved by the National Trust.

St Matthews Church, Drayton
Drayton also boasts the interesting St Matthews Church which was built in 1887 and has the knocker from the Royal Bulls Head Inn on the Vestry door.

	Tourist Information
	Queensland National Parks & Wildlife Service James St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4639 4599
	Toowoomba Tourist Association James St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4632 3797, 1800 331 155
	Motels
	Allan Cunningham Motel 808 Ruthven St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4635 5466 Facsimile: (07) 4636 1564 Rating: ***
	Applegum Inn Motel 41 Margaret St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4632 2088 Facsimile: (07) 46391334 Rating: ****
	Blue Violet Motor Inn 31 Margaret St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4638 1488 Rating: ***1/2
	Bridge St Motor Inn 291 Bridge St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4634 3299 Facsimile: (07) 4634 3060 Rating: ***1/2
	City Motor Inn Toowoomba 195a West St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4616 8400 Facsimile: (07) 4616 8406 Rating: ***
	Cliffords Gardens Motor Inn 316 James St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4633 1349 Facsimile: (07) 4634 9022 Rating: ****
	Colonial Motel 730 Ruthven St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4635 3233 Rating: ***1/2
	Comfort Inn Glenfield 876 Ruthven St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4635 4466 Facsimile: (07) 4635 0911 Rating: ****
	Comfort Inn Grammar View 39 Margaret St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4638 3366 Facsimile: (07) 4638 1976 Rating: ****
	Comfort Inn The Park 88 Margaret St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4632 1011 Facsimile: (07) 4638 1964 Rating: ****
	Cotswald Motor Inn Cnr Bridge & Boundry Sts Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4633 3344 Facsimile: (07) 4633 3355 Rating: ****
	Country Gardens Motor Inn 94 James St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4632 3099 Facsimile: (07) 4632 3920 Rating: ****
	Downs Motel 669 Ruthven St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4639 3811 Rating: ***
	Flying Spur Motel 277 Taylor St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4634 3237 Rating: ***
	Garden City Motor Inn 718 Ruthven St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4635 5377 Rating: ***1/2
	Great Divide Motor Inn Cnr Cohoe & Herries Sts Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4639 6646 Facsimile: (07) 4639 6755 Rating: ****
	Highlander Motor Inn & Apartments 226 James St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4638 4955 Facsimile: (07) 4638 4977 Rating: ****
	Jacaranda St Motor Inn 794 Ruthven St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4635 3111 Facsimile: (07) 4635 3272 Rating: ***1/2
	James St Motor Inn James St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4638 3066 Rating: ***
	Jeffreys Motel Ruthven St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4635 5999 Rating: ***
	Leichhardt Motor Inn 682 Ruthven St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4638 4644 Facsimile: (07) 4638 4454 Rating: ***1/2
	Motel Glenworth 1 Margaret St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4638 1799 Facsimile: (07) 4632 0919 Rating: ***1/2
	Raceview Motor Inn 52 Hursley Rd Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4634 6777 Facsimile: (07) 4634 1160 Rating: ***1/2
	Ruthven Steet Motor Inn 786 Ruthven St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4636 1366 Facsimile: (07) 4636 1911 Rating: ***
	Sunray Motor Inn Bridge St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4634 2200 Facsimile: (07) 4634 6477 Rating: ****
	Toowoomba Motel 2 Burnage St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4631 8600 Facsimile: (07) 4631 8660 Rating: ****
	Toowoomba Motor Village 821 Ruthven St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4635 8182 Facsimile: (07) 4636 1825 Rating: ***1/2
	Tudor Lodge Motel Warrego Hwy Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4638 1822 Facsimile: (07) 4632 3601 Rating: ***1/2
	Tuscany on Tor Motor Inn Cnr Tor & Lendrum Sts Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4659 0000 Facsimile: (07) 4659 0100 Rating: ****
	Villa Nova Motel Cnr Ruthven & South Sts Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4636 9200 Facsimile: (07) 4636 9290 Rating: ****
	White Oaks Motel 12 Margaret St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4639 2999 Rating: **
	Hotels
	Burke & Wills Hotel 554 Ruthven St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4632 2433 Facsimile: (07) 4639 2002 Rating: ****
	Mercure Hotel Burke & Wills Toowoomba 554 Ruthven St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4632 2433 Facsimile: (07) 4639 2002 Rating: ****
	Shamrock Hotel/Motel 604 Ruthven St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4632 2666 Rating: **
	Southern Hotel/Motel Ruthven St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4635 3311 Rating: **
	Vacy Hall Private Hotel 135 Russell St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4639 2055
	Wilsonton Hotel Richmond Dve Wilsonton Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4634 2033 Facsimile: (07) 4633 1385 Rating: ***
	Bed & Breakfast/Guesthouses
	Alderwood Bed & Breakfast 27 Grey Gums Dve Blue Mountains Heights, 4350 Toowoomba QLD 4362 Telephone: (07) 4696 8168 Facsimile: (07) 4696 8178
	Eagles Rest Bed & Breakfast 20 Montrose Rd Calarlah, 4352 Toowoomba QLD 4362 Telephone: (07) 4696 9779
	Governor's Choice Winery & Cottages B&B Berghofer Rd Westbrook, 4350 Toowoomba QLD 4362 Telephone: (07) 4630 6101 Rating: ****1/2
	Jacaranda Grove 92 Tourist Rd Toowoomba QLD 4362 Telephone: (07) 4635 8394 Facsimile: (07) 4635 8394 Rating: ****1/2
	James Cottage Bed & Breakfast 128 James St Toowoomba QLD 4362 Telephone: (07) 4637 8377 Facsimile: (07) 4638 7222 Rating: ****
	Lauriston House 67 Margaret St Toowoomba QLD 4362 Telephone: (07) 4632 4053 Facsimile: (07) 4639 5526 Rating: ****1/2
	Mt Rascal Bed & Breakfast 110 Ironbark Dve Mount Rascal, 4350 Toowoomba QLD 4362 Telephone: (07) 4630 1817 Facsimile: (07) 4630 1817 Rating: ****
	Talgai Homestead Guesthouse 6 km west of Allora, via Toowoomba QLD 4362 Telephone: (07) 4666 3444 Email: enquiries@talgaihomestead.com Rating: ****
	Westaway Home Stay 12 Girrawhenn St Toowoomba QLD 4362 Telephone: (07) 4635 6931 Facsimile: ((07) 4635 6931 Rating: ***1/2
	Cottages & Cabins
	Banksai Cottage 5 Norwood St Toowoomba QLD 4362 Telephone: (07) 4634 2461, 0407 585 830
	Cloudlake Mountain Retreat M/S 897, Ravensbourne, 4325 Toowoomba QLD 4362 Telephone: (07) 4697 8266
	Dovecote Cottage 1 Knight St Toowoomba QLD 4362 Telephone: (07) 4632 6721 Facsimile: (07) 4632 6721
	Glen Cottage 16 Argyle St Toowoomba QLD 4362 Telephone: (07) 4632 6721 Facsimile: (07) 4632 6721
	Governor's Choice Winery & Cottages B&B Berghofer Rd Westbrook, 4350 Toowoomba QLD 4362 Telephone: (07) 4630 6101 Rating: ****1/2
	The Gums 70 Holberton St Toowoomba QLD 4362 Telephone: (07) 4634 2461, 0407 585 830
	Caravan Parks
	Jeffreys Caravan Park Ruthven St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4635 5999 Rating: **
	Jolly Swagman Caravan Park 47 Kitchener St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4632 8735 Rating: **
	Garden City Caravan Park 34 Eiser St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4635 1747 Rating: ***
	Glenfield Motor Lodge Caravan Park Ruthven St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4635 4466 Rating: ***
	Toowoomba Motor Village Caravan Park 821 Ruthven St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4635 8186 Rating: ***
	Restaurants
	A Taste In Time 204 Herries St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4639 2192
	A Tudor Lodge Cnr Warrego Hwy & Scott St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4638 1822
	Banjos Ruthven St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4636 1033
	Bonnies At the Gym 1 Princess St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4632 1511
	Carousel Restaurant 88 Margaret St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4638 4727
	Chalet Restaurant Picnic Point Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4635 3422
	Chrysdals Restaurant 876 Ruthven St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4636 1233
	Clifford House 120 Russell St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4632 9288
	Golden Dragon Chinese Restaurant 250 Margaret St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4638 1258
	Grammar View Motor Inn 39 Margaret St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4638 3366
	Green Room Restaurant 180 Margaret St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4638 1519
	Herries House Restaurant 210 Herries St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4632 7382
	Labels Restaurant 604 Ruthven St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4632 2666
	Leongs Chinese BYO Restaurant 11 James St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4639 1810
	Lords Restaurant 59 Margaret St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4638 4411
	Marco Polos Ruthven St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4635 7799
	Mars Chinese Restaurant 732 Ruthven St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4635 0555
	Mexican Cantina 491 Ruthven St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4638 1888
	Ming Jade Restaurant 352 Bridge St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4634 6276
	Peking Restaurant 92 Ruthven St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4638 1511
	Picnic Point Restaurant Tourist Rd Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4636 1533
	Pioneer Steakhouse 808 Ruthven St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4635 5466
	Sizzler Cnr James & Hume St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4639 2414
	Taste in Time Buffet 204 Herries St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4632 2192
	The Squatters Inn 59a Margaret St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4639 1139
	Top of the Range Restaurant 2 Margaret St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4632 7666
	Trenz 80 Russell St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4638 3251
	Whiteoaks Restaurant 12 Margaret St Toowoomba QLD 4350 Telephone: (07) 4632 5550