Allora

Allora is a rural town and locality in the Southern Downs Region, Queensland, Australia.

Allora is a rural town and locality in the Southern Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Allora had a population of 1,223 people.

Giabal (also known as Paiamba, Gomaingguru) is an Australian Aboriginal language. The Giabal language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the Toowoomba Regional Council, particularly Toowoomba south to Allora and west to Millmerran.The region surrounding this small farming community was first explored by Europeans in the 1840s.

In 1854 the first Presbyterian services were held in Allora.The town was surveyed in 1859. Its name is believed to derive from an Aboriginal word "gnarrallah", meaning waterhole or swampy place.Following European settlement, the history of the area is entwined with two famous pastoral homesteads in the vicinity of Allora: Glengallan and Talgai . Both properties ran sheep.

The original "Talgai" run was taken up by E. E. Dalrymple in 1840. The creek that runs through Allora is named in his honour. Built in 1868 for the Clark family, Talgai Homestead stood on 300,000 acres (1,200 km2). The homestead is built of sandstone and covers sixty squares. It is now a bed and breakfast.

Allora Post Office opened on 31 March 1863.

In 1866 a Wesleyan Methodist church was established in Allora. Improvements were made in 1875. A new church was built in 1896.The Allora State School opened on 1 May 1867. On 31 December 2008, it was renamed Allora P-10 State School.From 1869, Allora had its own local government (initially Borough of Allora, from 1903 Town of Allora) then was combined with the Clifton Shire. In 1914 it separated from the Clifton Shire to become a shire in its own right as the Shire of Allora, which was administered from the Shire's offices initially on the corner of Warwick and Forde Streets Allora, and then at 78 Herbert Street in Allora. In 1994, the Shire of Allora was amalgamated into the Shire of Warwick.

In 1873 a permanent Presbyterian congregation was established with the arrival of Reverend Thomas Kingsford as a permanent minister. Construction on a church building began in 1880 and was officially opened on 29 May 1881 by the Moderator, Right Reverend John Fleming McSwaine.In 1886 the first fossil evidence of early human occupation in the area, the Talgai Skull, was found on Talgai Homestead, embedded in the wall of Dalrymple Creek. Radiocarbon dating suggests the Talgai skull is between 9,000 and 11,000 years old. It is believed to be the skull of a boy of approximately 15 years of age who had been killed by a massive blow to the side of the head.From the 1870s, red cedar, pine and beech logged from the Goomburra valley were milled at Allora.

St David's Anglican Church opened in late 1888 without any ceremony. It was consecrated in 1890.By 1894 a Catholic church and a Presbyeterian church had opened in Allora.The Allora Boer War Memorial was unveiled on 19 October 1904 by Colonel Henry Chauvel.Wilsonville Provisional School opened in 1906. On 1 January 1909 it became Wilsonville State School. It was amalgamated with Glengallan State School in late 1922 or early 1923 to create Mount Marshall State School.St Patrick's Catholic School was established on 24 January 1916 by the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart. The official opening ceremony was conducted by Roman Catholic Archbishop of Brisbane, James Duhig.

The Allora Shire Soldiers Memorial was unveiled on 11 November 1921 by General J.C. Robertson and the mothers of those who died.St Paul's Church of England in Back Plains was dedicated on 12 February 1892 by Archbishop of Brisbane William Webber. The last service was conducted in Back Plains on 8 August 1943. In 1953 the church building was relocated to Nobby where it was re-established as St Paul's Church of England. The last service at Nobby was conducted circa 11 May 1975. In 1979 the building was relocated to 12 Jubb Street, Allora (28.0309°S 151.9818°E? / -28.0309; 151.9818? (Scots Presbyterian Church, Allora)) to become the Scots Presbyterian Church for those Presbyterians in the district who did not wish to become part of the Uniting Church of Australia. The church in Allora was dedicated on 26 July 1980 by Presbyterian Moderator Rt Rev F. White.The current Allora Public Library opened in 1966 and had a minor refurbishment in 2010.At the 2011 census, Allora had a population of 889.In the 2016 census, Allora had a population of 1,223 people.