Forest Hill

History

In 1880, AJ Boyd purchased 975 acres (394.6 hectares) of land from the Queensland Government for reportedly five shillings an acre. The land was located approximately six kilometres south from the Main Line railway, towards Woodlands. Boyd named this property Forest Hill, after seeing Allan Cunningham's map of the region where he had marked "extensive indifferent forest ground". A stopping place was established on the Main Line railway to service the property called Boyd's Siding which later changed its name to Forest Hill. The first Forest Hill Post Office opened on 1 February 1890 at the railway station (replacing a receiving office named Forest Hill Siding open since 1889). The office moved to its current site at 40 Victoria Street on 7 January 1908. Forest Hill Provisional School opened on 23 January 1893, becoming a state school in 1899. St Thomas's Anglican Church was dedicated on 2 August 1903 by Archdeacon Arthur Evan David. Its closure on 3 May 2005 was approved by Assistant Bishop Rob Nolan. Forest Hill was once home to five hotels, a hospital, a bakery and butcher, and was the largest rail freight hub for agricultural produce in Queensland. The Forest Hill War Memorial was erected to commemorate those in the district who had died or served in World War I. It was unveiled by five mothers of deceased soldiers on 26 March 1921. During the 2010–11 Queensland floods, much of the population of Forest Hill was required to be evacuated by helicopter to nearby Gatton to avoid rapidly rising floodwaters.

Geography

The town is located west of the state capital, Brisbane and east of the regional centre of Toowoomba. Forest Hill railway station is an abandoned railway station on the Main Line railway (). There is an aircraft landing ground between Gatton Laidley Road and the railway line ().

Most-observed species

• Magpie-lark

  Grallina cyanoleuca (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  3,632
• Pacific Black Duck

  Anas superciliosa J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  3,598
• Willie-wagtail

  Rhipidura leucophrys (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  3,520
• Australasian Grebe

  Tachybaptus novaehollandiae (Stephens, 1826) · Aves
  3,338
• Australian Magpie

  Gymnorhina tibicen (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  3,053
• Masked Lapwing

  Vanellus miles (Boddaert, 1783) · Aves
  3,022
• Torresian Crow

  Corvus orru Bonaparte, 1850 · Aves
  2,992
• Gray Teal

  Anas gracilis Buller, 1869 · Aves
  2,984