Comprehensive information and links about Australia Ipswich

Ipswich is a city and Local Government Area situated on the Bremer River, in Queensland, Australia. It is located approximately 40 kilometres south-west of the state capital, Brisbane. Ipswich comprises an area of 1,207 km² and has a population of approximately 137,000.

Attractions include the Ipswich Art Gallery, the Workshops Rail Museum, steam trains, more than 500 parks, wineries, and cafes, restaurants, cinemas and shopping centres. Ipswich hosts regular national and local festivals and events such as the Queensland Open Golf Championships, Ipswich Cup—the city’s annual major horse race, Winternationals car drag races, Ipswich Festival and Ipswich Show.

table

History

The area was first explored by European colonists in 1826, when Captain Patrick Logan, commandant of the Moreton Bay penal colony, sailed along the river and discovered large deposits of limestone and other minerals. In 1827, the first convicts and overseers arrived to mine the area, and the town that built around this industry became known as Limestone, and is remembered by one of the main streets through the city centre named Limestone Street to this day. In 1843, the settlement officially became known as Ipswich, making Ipswich the oldest provincial city in Queensland.

Mining of coal and other valuable minerals continued well into the 20th century, and it is cynically (if somewhat accurately) said by locals that the reason many of the outlying suburbs are so hilly is because the area was used as a dumping ground for waste originating from the mines. Ipswich has suffered somewhat from this establishment as a mining city, but recent efforts have made strides in improving its reputation.

Ipswich was proclaimed as a municipality on March 2, 1860, and became a city in 1904.

Economy

It is the site of the RAAF Base Amberley, the largest operational Royal Australian Air Force base in Australia. Based here are the 1st and 6th Squadrons, flying F-111 strike aircraft, and 38 Squadron's Caribou transport aircraft.

Ipswich is also home to a campus of the University of Queensland and the annual Ipswich Cup horse races. Ipswich is also the location of Workshops Railway Museum to commemorate the first trainline in Queensland which was from Ipswich to Grandchester, approximately 25km to the west.

Being developed in the Springfield, Queensland area is a large shopping complex which was, when designed (and possibly when completed), the largest shopping centre in the southern hemisphere. Accompanying this is a satellite campus of the University of Southern Queensland, which has its primary campus in Toowoomba.

Kevin Walters: represented Queensland and Australia at rugby league, captained the Brisbane Broncos, attended Ipswich Grammar School.Kerrod Walters: represented Queensland and Australia at rugby league, attended Ipswich Grammar School.Steve Walters: represented Queensland and Australia at rugby league, played for the Canberra Raiders, attended Ipswich Grammar School.Ipswich Grammar School, established in 1863, first school to open as a result of the Grammar Schools Act of 1860