Eight Mile Plains

Eight Mile Plains is an outer southern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Eight Mile Plains is an outer southern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Eight Mile Plains had a population of 15,322 people.

The name of the Aboriginal clan formerly occupying this area is uncertain. According to one source they are likely to have been the Chepara clan of Eight Mile Plains who spoke Turrbal.The Yerongpan of Oxley Creek are said to have claimed the area from Brisbane to Ipswich. Another source claims they were the Yagarabal, who ranged from Brisbane to the Logan River and west to Moggill Creek.The Aborigines used a trail which later became Logan Road. This trail bisected many creeks including the Mimosa Creek and Bulimba Creek watercourse.The name Eight Mile Plains was given early in its settlement, and refers to the area's flat topography and the distance (8 miles (13 km)) to One Mile Swamp (now Woolloongabba).In 1861, over 7,800 acres (32 km2) in the nearby Coopers Plains area had been proclaimed the Brisbane Agricultural Reserve. In 1864 this was extended by a further 5,500 acres (22 km2) and the Eight Mile Plains Agricultural Reserve was formed. It comprised the current suburbs of Sunnybank, Sunnybank Hills, Runcorn, Kuraby, Eight Mile Plains and parts of Coopers Plains, Algester and Stretton.

Charles Baker bought land in the area in 1863. He obtained a publican's licence for Baker's Hotel on 12 December 1865. Joseph Baker took over the licence in 1869 and changed the name to Eight Mile Plains Hotel. In 1875 the hotel became a Cobb & Co staging post. In 1927, two Scottish sisters Mary-Jane McCamey and Emma O’Sullivan took over the hotel and changed its name to "The Glen", because the undulating countryside reminded them of the area in Scotland where they were born. The O'Sullivan family introduced wood chopping competitions at the hotel, including a cross saw event with one end being taken by a woman (known today as a Jack and Jill competition). These events attracted huge crowds and led to the formation of the Queensland Axeman's Association which continues to operate wood chopping competitions throughout Queensland and send teams to national and international events. As at 2019, The Glen Hotel continues to trade, making it one of the longest continuously trading hotels in Queensland.The Eight Mile Plains Provisional School opened on 7 June 1869 in Charles Baker's paddock on Logan Road between Levington Road and the Glen Hotel. The school building was erected by Baker at his own expense. There were approximately 15 students at that time. However, the school was poorly located on the outskirts of the area and the building was in poor condition and by 1875 there was local agitation for a new building to house the 80 students in a more central location. In June 1880 tenders were called to erect a new school building made of hardwood. In 1896 it became Eight Mile Plains State School.In September 1883, 231 allotments of "Logan Railway Estate" were advertised to be auctioned by John Cameron. A map advertising the auction illustrates the proximity of the estate to the Logan Railway Line.Between 1902 and 1904 the Anglican, Catholic, Lutheran and Methodist communities in the area decided to construct a church on Millers Road that would be shared between them with each denomination holding their services in the church according to a roster until such time as each denomination established its own church. This arrangement continued until it was only the Anglican faith still using the building, when it then became St Paul's Anglican Church.Electricity was extended to the district in 1936.

St Johns Lutheran Church was officially dedicated on Sunday 9 December 1951 by Pastor M. Lohe, president of the Lutheran Church in Queensland. The brick church was built entirely by the volunteer labour of 30 men of the congregation with the work starting in October 1949 and mostly done on Saturdays. Pastor Lohe laid the foundation stone on 2 April 1950. The church had seating for 150 people with a further 50 people in the separate choir loft. The church was designed by farmer Reg Waldman who also supervised the construction; he was also the church's organist. The building was not complete at the time of its dedication as the tower has only reached 27 feet (8.2 m) but the plans were for it to reach 50 feet (15 m) including a belfry. The building was completed in 1976 with the erection of the spire.In 1958 a new school was constructed to service the area.Warrigal Road State School opened on 30 January 1979. The word Warrigalmeans "Dingo" in the local Aboriginal language.Originally Eight Mile Plains extended beyond the Brisbane City boundary along the Pacific Highway (Logan Road) into the northern part of Albert Shire (now Logan City). In the 1970s, this southern part of Eight Mile Plains, along with the southern part of Rochedale and Springwood became the new suburb of Underwood. Part of Eight Mile Plains within the Brisbane boundary was renamed Rochedale.Eight Mile Plains Special School opened on 25 August 1980; it closed on 31 December 1997.Brisbane Technology Park opened in 1986. The park is located on a 33.5-hectare (83-acre) site that is only 12 minutes from the Brisbane CBD. The Queensland Clunies Ross Centre for Science and Industry opened at the Technology Park in 1997.In October 2014 a petition was made by 380 residents to excise the north-eastern part of Eight Miles Plains bounded by the Pacific Motorway and Bulimba Creek to create a new suburb to be called Wishart Outlook, the name given to the area by its developers in the 1990s. However, other residents are opposed to the change.