Local Place Names
Patrick Estate
In 1868 brothers John, William and Daniel Patrick purchased 10,000 acres of prime farming land on the north side of Lockyer Creek, formerly part of Tarampa station. The area was named after its first farming family when it was subdivided for agricultural farming in the 1930s..
Clarendon
This area west of Lowood was also part of the Tarampa run and was known by that name when the railway line from Lowood to Esk opened in August 1886. Just four months later the station's name was changed to Clarendon, probably to avoid confusion with the nearby township of Tarampa that wasn't on the rail line. Here the railway line crossed the now heritage-listed Lockyer Creek Rail Bridge enroute to Coominya..
Tarampa
Tarampa was a run of 39,000 acres taken up by Charles Cameron around 1848. It included present-day Tarampa, Clarendon and Patrick Estate. The name came from an Aboriginal word meaning "place of wild lime trees." In 1859 17,000 sheep were sold from Tarampa.
In the 1870s much of the area was settled by German immigrants. The opening of the railway terminus at nearby Lowood in 1884 gave impetus to Tarampa's timber industry and provided access to Brisbane for its abundant crops.
Coominya
With the coming of the railway in 1886 the station was named Bellevue, taking the name of a large estate established near here in 1869 (and still operating today.) In 1905 the name was changed to Coominya to avoid confusion with the estate.
According to one source Coominya was Aboriginal for "Where is the water?" because of the lack of surface water in the area. Another source says it means "water view," from the Aboriginal 'kung-i-nya', referring to several lagoons said to be visible from the station.
Prenzlau
About 1873 this area 15kms south-west of Lowood was settled by immigrants from the Uckermark region in Prussia (now north-eastern Germany). Known as Back Plains at the time (as was Minden), about 20 years later it became known as Prenzlau, named after Uckermark's capital city.
Coolana
The settlement between Tarampa and Minden was known as Hillside from the 1880s. In 1945 the name was changed to Coolana, an Aboriginal word meaning "Place of the Possum."
Minden
Originally known as Back Plain or Rosewood Scrub, Minden was named around 1879 at the request of its predominantly German settlers, after a town in Westphalia, Germany. Anti-German sentiment during World War I led to the name being changed to Frenchton in 1917, but Minden was reinstated in 1930.
Brightview
Early settlers named this area Lobethal, a German biblical name meaning "Valley of Praise". Later the name was apparently changed to prevent the Post Office confusing it with Lobethal in South Australia.
Lockyer Waters
Major Edmund Lockyer discovered a large tributary of the Brisbane River in 1826, which was later named Lockyer Creek. Lockyer Waters is 22 kms west of Lowood, to the south of Atkinsons Dam.
Atkinsons Dam
In the 1960s the Department of Irrigation and Water Supply investigated new dam sites for irrigation purposes. Atkinson's Lagoon, about 15 kms west of Lowood, was selected and Atkinsons Dam was completed in 1970.
Buaraba
Buaraba was a 32,000 acre run 30 kms north-west of Lowood settled in 1841. The name came from an Aboriginal word meaning "place of dry bushes." In 1884 16,000 ironbark sleepers were cut from the Buaraba scrub for the horse-drawn tramway being laid in the streets of Brisbane.