Pine Mountain

This area was originally covered by hoop pines and was marked on a map by Lockyer in 1852 as ‘hill with pines’. Pine Mountain was the source of timber for many early buildings. By at least the 1850s, sawyers went to "The Mountain" to cut hoop pine which they floated down the river to Brisbane or hauled into Ipswich. One of these sawyers, Thomas Foreman, is known to have provided the pine for "Claremont", the first Ipswich Hospital and the first Bank of New South Wales in Ipswich.

The greatest hazard in their work was the frequent floods in the Brisbane River which scattered their rafts of logs. As the timber was cut out and land was made available for settlement, people (including some of the sawyers) commenced farming. They grew lucerne, maize and cotton and started orchards. Later, dairying became important.

A school and churches were established; of these, only the Catholic Church is still standing and the Pine Mt Community Hall was built in 1936.

The Pine Mountain School was the location of a significant meeting called by its headmaster Joseph Mayfield in April 1886; at this meeting, the West Moreton Teachers Association (WMTA) was formed with Ipswich teacher John Scott as its president and Mayfield as secretary. The WMTA's first annual picnic was also held at Pine Mountain. This association was a model for similar district groups and led to the formation of the Queensland Teachers Union.