The suburb is located 9.6 kilometres (6.0 mi) by road from the Brisbane GPO.[4] Mitchelton is part of the northwestern suburbs. It is a growing suburb with many Queenslander style houses and leafy streets. The area is quite hilly and most of the suburb is on a north-facing slope.[citation needed]
History
Mitchelton is an area with a long history. Mitchelton's name comes from one particular family of the first settlers in the area. The Mitchell family emigrated from England in the 1850s. Nicholas Mitchell purchased an estate he named "Mitchelton" by 1875. This area was first subdivided in the 1890s.[3][5]
On 4 October 1913, Arthur Blackwood sold a large portion of land known as the Oxford Park Estate between Samford Road and Kedron Brook. It was a subdivision of 300 suburban allotments (mostly 32 perches) and 8 larger farm allotments on St Helens Road fronting Kedron Brook. The estate created Blackwood Street and University Road (the northern part of which is now Pascoe Road).[7] One of the advertised benefits of the estate were its 1⁄4 mile (0.40 km) proximity to the proposed Groveley railway station on the Ferny Grove railway line.[8][9] The estate gave its name to the Oxford Park railway station, despite the railway station being to the west of the estate,[10] which resulted in land near that railway station being commonly known as Oxford Park[11] (although that land never formed part of the Oxford Park subdivision).
Grovely State School opened on 9 October 1916. It was renamed Mitchelton State School in 1923. (It is not to be confused with the present day Grovely State School in Keperra, which opened in 1956).[12]
In June 1922, Grovely Lodge Estate, 3rd section, made up of 149 residential sites and 4 large blocks, were advertised by Cameron Bros Auctioneers. A map advertising the auction states that the estate is 5 minutes walk to both Mitchelton railway station and state school.[13][14]
The first section of Mitchelton View Estate was offered for sale in 1926 by B.F. Caniffe.[15] In May 1933, B.F. Caniffe auctioned 50 suburban blocks, the third section of the Mitchelton View Estate. The subdivision was bounded by Gizerah Street, Taylors Road, Frasers Road and Mashobra Street.[16] However, the bidding did not reach the reserve price and the blocks were not sold.[17]
In 1930 the Sisters of the Good Shepherd established the Good Shepherd Home for girls with special needs or those deemed to be "uncontrollable" in their own homes; these girls worked in the home's commercial laundry.[18] The home was closed in late 1974 due to changes in community and government expectations about institutionalised care of children.[18][19][20]
Mt Maria College was established in Mitchelton in 1979 by amalgamating Years 11 and 12 of Marcellin College (a Catholic boys school in Enoggera) with St Benedict's College (a Catholic girls school in Wilston).[12] It occupied the former Good Shepherd Home.[18]
Mitchelton State Special School opened on 17 May 1971.[12]
The current Mitchelton Public Library opened in 1983 and had a major refurbishment in 2013.[24][20]
Demographics
In the 2016 census, the population of Mitchelton was 8,559, 52.3% female and 47.7% male.[1] The median age of the Mitchelton population was 36 years of age, 2 years below the Australian median. 78.3% of people living in Mitchelton were born in Australia, compared to the national average of 66.7%; the next most common countries of birth were England 3.8%, New Zealand 2.6%, India 1.1%, South Africa 0.8%, United States of America 0.7%. 87.4% of people spoke only English at home; the next most common languages were Mandarin 0.9%, Spanish 0.8%, German 0.5%, Japanese 0.5%, French 0.4%.[1]
Heritage listings
St Matthews Anglican Church, Grovely (now Mitchelton), 2010Home of the Good Shepherd (now Mt Maria College), Mitchelton, Brisbane, 1931
Mitchelton has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
Mitchelton is home to numerous schools, which include Mitchelton State School, Mitchelton State High School, Mitchelton Special School, Our Lady of Dolours Primary School and Mt Maria College, which is based in the old Sisters of the Good Shepherd home for troubled girls.
Mitchelton is now filled with many shops, schools and facilities, such as the Brookside Shopping Centre, and a very attractive shopping district on Blackwood Avenue that also features a monthly market which attracts many vendors of fine foods and wares as well as tourists. Mitchelton is also home to many sporting teams in state competition.[citation needed]
Mitchelton Football club, located in Teralba Park on Osborne road is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2020. The original team was called the Black Diamonds, and had distinctive uniforms in white with a black diamond on the shirt. The black diamonds were also one of the first teams in the Brisbane area that had aborigines on the team. Of note, the internationally famous singing group, the Bee Gees, Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb, performed at the Mitchelton Soccer Club Trophy Night in 1960 before they shot to stardom.[citation needed]
Via road, Mitchelton's main arterials are Samford Road, which is the main corridor for motorists travelling to The City and Samford, as well as Osborne Road which is the main corridor for motorists travelling to the outer Northern suburbs such as Aspley.[citation needed]
Via bikeway, Mitchelton has direct access to the Kedron Brook bikeway which leads all the way to the coast over 20 km away and passes many vistas along the way.[citation needed]
Notable people
Notable people from or having lived in Mitchelton include:
^"SALE OF OXFORD PARK ESTATE". Daily Standard. No. 244. Queensland, Australia. 24 September 1913. p. 4 (SECOND EDITION). Archived from the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Advertising". Daily Standard. No. 248. Queensland, Australia. 29 September 1913. p. 8 (SECOND EDITION). Archived from the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Advertising". The Telegraph. No. 15455. Queensland, Australia. 10 June 1922. p. 16 (SECOND EDITION). Archived from the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved 21 May 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Advertising". The Brisbane Courier. No. 21, 365. Queensland, Australia. 17 July 1926. p. 12. Archived from the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
^"BIDDING TOO LOW". Sunday Mail. No. 522. Queensland, Australia. 28 May 1933. p. 13. Archived from the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
^ abc"Good Shepherd Home (former)". Brisbane Heritage Register. Brisbane City Council. Archived from the original on 6 November 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
^"School History". Our Lady of Dolours Catholic Primary School. Archived from the original on 6 November 2019. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
^"Closed Churches". Anglican Records and Archives Centre, Anglican Church of Southern Queensland. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
^Universal Business Directories (Aust.) Pty. Ltd (1990). UBD street directory. Brisbane. Universal Business Directories (Australia). Archived from the original on 24 August 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2020. ((cite book)): |author1= has generic name (help)
^"Mitchelton Public Library"(PDF). Queensland Public Libraries Statistical Bulletin 2016-2017" (PDF). Public Libraries Connect. November 2017. November 2017. Archived(PDF) from the original on 30 January 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
