Defining Tulmur | Ipswich - Movement & Land Use

Movement of Peoples
Tulmur has been home to the peoples of the Yagara/Yugara Language Group for tens of thousands of years. “Aboriginal peoples owned, had sovereignty over and cultivated the lands, waters, flora, and fauna of Ipswich. Aboriginal peoples mapped the terrain and the stars, made laws, and held Government and maintained their connection to their country through song, dance, language, and stories.” 

Europeans started arriving in what became known as ‘Limestone’ in the 1820s, with convicts and their overseers the first to live and work near Limestone Hill. Trees were cleared as limestone became our first industry. Soon more convicts arrived from across the British Empire, including the island of Mauritius and as the Moreton Bay Penal Colony expanded, new convict posts – The Plough Station at Raceview and Red Bank Station at Redbank - were established, displacing Traditional Owners. 

Next came the free settlers and ticket-of-leavers in the 1840s, and the land was carved up and sold. As we headed towards Separation in 1859, the European settlement at Ipswich began to take shape, with businesses established along Nicholas, Brisbane, Bell, and Ellenborough Streets, and with churches and residential lots surrounding. As Municipality was granted in 1860, the next decades brought growth and increased industry with coal mining, the birth of Queensland Rail, replacing the paddle steamer trade, and manufacturing. The droughts, economic depression and floods of the 1890s had their effect, though they could not stop the growth once Ipswich became a city in 1904, with its boundaries increasing in size over coming years.

War overseas followed by depression, a second war and austerity, set the scene for mid-century dreams of a better tomorrow. Confidence grew as the population boomed in the east, following the railway line and expansion of telephone, sewerage and electricity networks. New industry and retail opportunities flourished and as we headed towards the new millennium, the city’s horizons expanded once again, first with the amalgamation of Moreton Shire and then the development of Springfield and, more recently, Ripley. While being one of Queensland’s fastest growing cities, with an eye to the future, we look back at our past and are recording our present.