Calvert

Originally called the Old Man's Waterhole and then Alfred, this small township was on the early road to Toowoomba and it was a favourite camping place for bullock drivers. Consisting of approximately twelve houses, the largest being the public house - inn. The inn opened here in 1843 by Owens who later sold to McKeon. The village of Alfred was surveyed in 1854 and in the same year it became a stopping place on the coach route.

Calvert was not one of the original stations on the railway and in 1865, residents petitioned for a station. This opened in 1866 and was called Western Creek but it was renamed Calvert in 1884. Alfred School opened in 1872. In 1871, two hundred people lived between Alfred and Grandchester.

The name of the township was changed in March 1931 from Alfred to Calvert, reportedly named after James Calvert (1825-1884) who was a member of Leichhardt's expedition to Port Essington in 1844. Another suggestion is that it was named after an early settler whose name was given to the crossing over Mort's Creek nearby.

During World War II, an army base building and ammunition store was established on the southern side of Franklin Vale Creek. Many African American soldiers were stationed there and became popular members of the Lanefield Baptist Church.