Tallegalla

Marburg Township, Tallegalla, Minden, Malabar and Haigslea were once part of the vast and impenetrable Rosewood Scrub. The earliest industry was logging and sawmilling. From the 1860s onwards, settlers arrived, many of German origin; they cleared the dense scrub with backbreaking effort and established farms for growing maize and small crops, later diversifying into dairying and piggeries.

There are two theories about the origin of the name Tallegalla. One theory is that this is the Aboriginal name for scrub turkey, while another theory is that it is derived from the Latin words ‘talis galla’ meaning ‘like a cockerel’. After the Land Act of 1868 land in the Rosewood Scrub, to the west of Brisbane, was opened for clearing and settlement. The area became known as Tallegalla and an official survey was completed in July 1872.

In 1876, John Dart applied to the postal Authorities, requesting that his residence became a Postal Receiving Office. This request was granted with the recommendation that the district be named "Tallegalla".

In the Tallegalla area there was a school, rail station, post office, two churches, hotel and cemetery. Only the school, station master’s residence and cemetery remain. Charles Freeman purchased 80 acres of Rosewood Scrub at Tallegalla in 1872. In 1876 Charles donated 10 acres of this land for a cemetery and church. The cemetery was originally called the Walloon Cemetery, but by 1886, it was known as the Rosewood General Cemetery, by 1902 it was the Rosewood Cemetery and by 1920, it was called Tallegalla Cemetery. The first burial here was a son of Mr. Dart who had purchased land on the western side of the Tallegalla School. Land donors, Charles and Mary Freeman are also laid to rest in the cemetery, along with several of their children and descendants. Other burials include those of Alfred Cotton of Hidden Vale and his son Sidney Cotton whose ashes are buried in the Cotton family grave.

The Rosewood-Walloon coal field was opened up in 1881, but it was not until 1924 that the first coal mine in Tallegalla began production. This was the Mountain Ash No. 1 mine, situated just south of the railway between Tallegalla and Birru. It was short-lived, and closed the following year. Others like the Roughrigg No. 1 and other Roughrigg mines were more successful, and they remained in production until 1969. A total of 11 mines were operating when coal production was at its peak.