Coominya is a rural town and

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localitie ...

in the

Somerset Region The Somerset Region is a local government area located in the West Moreton region of South East Queensland, Australia, northwest of the City of Brisbane. The region is centred on the town of Esk, which also serves as the council seat. Somer ...

in South East

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. The town is located west of the state capital,

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

and approximately from

Wivenhoe Dam Wivenhoe Dam is a rock and earth-fill embankment dam with a concrete spillway across the Brisbane River in South East Queensland, Australia. The dam takes it names from the local Wivenhoe Pocket rural community. The dam wall is located abou ...

. In the , the locality of Coominya had a population of 1,029 people. Coominya sits on the land of the Indigenous

Jagera people The Jagera people, also written Yagarr, Yaggera, Yuggera, and other variants, are the Australian First Nations people who speak the Yuggera language. The Yuggera language which encompasses a number of dialects was spoken by the traditional own ...

Geography

Coominya is bounded by Logan Creek to the north and Buaraba Creek to the south. Although located closely between

Atkinson Dam The Atkinson Dam is an earth-fill embankment dam across the Buaraba Creek and a naturally forming lagoon, which is located near Lowood in the South East region of Queensland, Australia. The main purpose of the dam is for irrigation of farming l ...

to the south-west and Lake Wivenhoe to the north-east, it does not bound either of these two reservoirs. The

Brisbane Valley Highway The Brisbane Valley Highway is a state highway in Queensland, Australia. It links the Warrego Highway near Ipswich, Queensland, Ipswich and the D'Aguilar Highway about north of Harlin. Its direction follows the approximate course of the Brisb ...

approximately follows its north-east border. The

Brisbane Valley railway line The Brisbane Valley railway line was a railway connection in Queensland, Australia connecting Ipswich, Queensland, Ipswich, west of Brisbane, to the upper Brisbane River valley. Progressively opened between 1884 and 1913, the railway provided ...

passes through Coominya from the north-west to the south-east with the

Coominya railway station Coominya railway station is central to all activities in historic Coominya village, located in the Somerset Region of South East Queensland. Coominya village, a township of approximately 467 persons is located in South East Queensland approxima ...

serving the town. However, the railway line was closed in 1993.

History

From 1886 to 1906, the area was known as ''Bellevue'' (the local pastoral property). The name ''Coominya'' is believed to be derived from the

Yuggera The Jagera people, also written Yagarr, Yaggera, Yuggera, and other variants, are the Australian First Nations people who speak the Yuggera language. The Yuggera language which encompasses a number of dialects was spoken by the traditional own ...

language where ''kung'' means ''water'' and ''nya'' means ''to see'' referring to its lagoons. Coominya Post Office opened by December 1907 (a

receiving office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

had been open from 1887, known earlier as Bellevue). Coominya State School opened on 17 September 1912. In 1920, the

Coominya soldier settlement Coominya Soldier Settlement was a soldier settlement in Coominya in the present-day Somerset Region local government area of South East Queensland, Australia. 100 soldiers settled in the settlement, each on approximately blocks. Approximately ...

was established to provide opportunities for soldiers returning from

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

to establish themselves as farmers. There were 100 farms each of intended for growing grapes and fruit. Like many soldier settlements in Australia, the scheme failed due to the poor quality of the land and lack of support for inexperienced farmers. The settlement closed in 1929 with only 2 farms were still operating. Coominya Presbyterian Church was officially opened on Thursday 4 March 1920 by Reverend J. B. Galloway, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church. It was the first church to open in Coominya. On Sunday 21 November 1920, Monsignor James Byrne laid the foundation stone for a Catholic church in Coominya. It had been planned that

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

James Duhig Sir James Duhig KCMG (2 September 187110 April 1965) was an Irish-born Australian Roman Catholic religious leader. He was the Archbishop of Brisbane for 48 years from 1917 until his death in 1965. At the time of his death he was the longest- ...

was to lay the foundation stone, but he was unable to come on the day. John Newman donated the land for the church and also £300 worth of timber. On Sunday 6 March 1921, Duhig came to Cominya to bless and dedicate the new Catholic church. The new church was including a

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christianity, Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is us ...

. The builder was Mr C. J. Madden, assisted by Messrs J. and H. Madden. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, an airfield was constructed west of Coominya to accommodate US air force squadrons. Today, the airfield is being used by a flight training school. St. Martin's Anglican Church was dedicated on 24 June 1922 by Coadjutor Bishop

Henry Le Fanu Henry Frewen Le Fanu (1 April 1870 – 9 September 1946) was an Anglican bishop in Australia. Early life Le Fanu was born in Dublin, Ireland. He was educated at Haileybury and Keble College, Oxford. Religious life Le Fanu was ordaine ...

. It closed circa 2005. The Coominya War Memorial is located on Railway Street and was dedicated on 25 April 1997.

Demographics

In the , the locality of Coominya had a population of 1,751. In the , the locality of Coominya had a population of 1,174. In the , the locality of Coominya had a population of 1,200 people. In the , Coominya had a population of 1,029 people.

Heritage listings

Coominya has a number of

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and human-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In ma ...

sites, including: *

Bellevue Homestead Bellevue Homestead is a heritage-listed homestead currently located in Coominya, Somerset Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built from to . It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992. The Bellevue property was ...

Economy

Coominya is known for its fresh produce. The major employer is an

abattoir In livestock agriculture and the meat industry, a slaughterhouse, also called an abattoir (), is a facility where livestock animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a meat ...

. There is a steady increase in olive growing and Comvita have set up an olive leaf extract plant in the town.

Education

Coominya State School is a government primary (Prep–6) school for boys and girls at 7 Cornhill Street (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 118 students with 7 teachers (6 full-time equivalent) and 6 non-teaching staff (4 full-time equivalent). There is no secondary school in Coominya; the nearest secondary schools are in Lowood and Toogoolawah.

Amenities

Facilities in Coominya include a post office, a general store with newsagency, a cafe and a

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

. A flight training school operates at Coominya Airfield, ICAO code YBCM. There are a number of churches in Coominya, including: * St Francis Xavier Catholic Church, 453 Coominya Connection Road () * Coominya Presbyterian Church (also known as Central Church Coominya), 18–20 West Street ()

Attractions

Attractions in the Coominya area include the historic

, moved from

to Coominya. Coominya is known for its scenery and wildlife including

lorikeet Loriini is a tribe of small to medium-sized arboreal parrots characterized by their specialized brush-tipped tongues for feeding on nectar of various blossoms and soft fruits, preferably berries. The species form a monophyletic group within the p ...

parrots,

koala The koala (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), sometimes inaccurately called the koala bear, is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only Extant taxon, extant representative of the Family (biology), family ''Phascolar ...

kangaroo Kangaroos are marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use, the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

s. As part of

Q150 Q150 was the sesquicentenary (150th anniversary) of the Separation of Queensland from New South Wales in 1859. Separation established the Colony of Queensland which became the State of Queensland in 1901 as part of the Federation of Australia ...

(Queensland's 150th anniversary) the local heritage society commissioned a series of murals depicting early life at the town.

References

External links

*
Town map of Coominya, 1973
{{authority control Towns in Queensland Suburbs of Somerset Region Localities in Queensland