The suburb is situated in the south-east of the city and was one of Brisbane's largest. This was before it was divided into Mount Gravatt East, Upper Mount Gravatt and Mount Gravatt South; the last being renamed Wishart in the early 1990s.[citation needed]
History
Prior to European settlement in the 19th century, Mount Gravatt was inhabited by the Indigenous Yuggera and Turrbal peoples for thousands of years, and is known as kagarr-mabul, kaggur-mabul, caggara-mahbill, or kaggur-madul, which means "place of echidnas" in the local Indigenous dialect.[5][6]
The hill was named Mount Gravatt in 1840 by surveyor Robert Dixon after Lieutenant George Gravatt who was the commander of the Moreton Bay penal colony from May to July 1839.[4][7] Gravatt was later transferred to India where he died in 1843.[8]
Mount Gravatt State School was opened on 29 June 1874.[9]
In 1888, 3 sections of 107 allotments, 6 and 7 acres were advertised to be auctioned on 24 November as 'The Abdington Estate Mount Gravatt'.[10][11]
Crowd observing the first tram through the suburb in 1951
Between 1953 and 1969 electric trams ran from the suburb into Brisbane's Central Business District (CBD) along Logan Road.[7] As Mount Gravatt was the end of the line, part of the area was known locally as "The Terminus".
Mount Gravatt East State School (in neighbouring Mount Gravatt East) was opened on 29 August 1955.[9]
St Catherine's School (in neighbouring Wishart) opened on 4 March 1971.[9]
Mount Gravatt Special School opened on 17 May 1971.[13] On 21 September 2012, it was relocated Mackenzie State Primary School (which was formerly Mount Petrie State School in Mackenzie) where it was renamed Mackenzie Special School.[14][15]
Yarranlea State School opened in Yarranlea (in the Toowoomba Region) on 22 January 1883 and closed on 9 December 1977. In 1979 it was relocated to Mount Gravatt College of Advanced Education (a teacher training institution) as a museum school. It was then relocated to the Griffith University campus and reopened on 27 January 1987,[9] known as Old Yarranlea State School) to provide teacher training in a one-teacher school environment (typical of schools in many regional communities of Queensland).To that end, enrolments in the school were limited to 18 students. However, the school was closed at the end 2013 due to having fewer than 150 students and being within five kilometres of three state schools.[17] Due to the support of parents and the public, it reopened as Yarranlea Primary School (an independent school) in July 2014.[18]
Circa 1975, the suburb was populated by middle class, young families seeking stability.[19]
Demographics
In the 2011 census, common birthplaces outside of Australia included New Zealand 3.2%, England 3.1%, India 2.1%, China (excludes SARs and Taiwan) 1.0% and South Africa 1.0%. Languages other than English spoken at home included Arabic 1.1%, Mandarin 1.0%, Punjabi 1.0%, Greek 0.7% and Italian 0.7%.[20]
In the 2016 census, Mount Gravatt had a population of 3,366 people.[1]
The Mount Gravatt Showgrounds are an important centre for cultural and community activities and the site of the annual Mount Gravatt Show, an agricultural fair.[28] The grounds are positioned on Logan Road, opposite the mega-church, Hillsong Brisbane Campus (formerly known as Garden City Christian Church).
The Mount Gravatt Library which is operated by the Brisbane City Council operates is located at 8 Creek Road.[29]
Panorama from Mount Gravatt, looking north to Brisbane
Mount Gravatt Lookout is accessible via Shire Road which winds its way past water towers up to the lookout carpark and a communications tower.[citation needed]
^"Classified Advertising". The Brisbane Courier. Vol. XLV, no. 9, 6228. Queensland, Australia. 22 November 1888. p. 8. Archived from the original on 11 March 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
