Highfields is both a town and a locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia.
Highfields is both a town and a locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. In 2014, Highfields had an estimated resident population of 12,627. At June 30 2019, the estimated resident population for the Highfields was 14,298. In 2017, it was the fastest growing area in Toowoomba.
History
The area probably takes its name from the Highfields pastoral run, north of the township. The area was first developed in the 1860s. Initially, there were a number of sawmills in the area, harvesting the local timber. Then the construction of the railway line between Ipswich and Toowoomba (completed in 1867) brought railway workers to the district. As the timber-getters cleared the land, dairy farms were established. The first post office openly briefly in 1866 with a weekly mail service from Toowoomba. It re-opened in 1868 and changed its name in December 1877 to Koojarawon. The Highfields School opened on 17 January 1870 in the Rising Sun Hotel under teacher Mr Larkin. The first school building was constructed in the 1880s. In 1906, the school was renamed Koojarawon.In 1907 the protests of residents resulted in both the school and the post office returning to the name Highfields. Another post office in the Highfields area is now the Geham Post Office.View Glen State School opened on Highfields Road on 25 May 1914. It closed on 1924.Coming into the 1960s, the Highfield remained a rural community with, at one stage, only 9 children enrolled in the school. However, residential subdivision started to occur in the 1960s, to a point where it is now considered a satellite town of Toowoomba. The school is now one of the largest primary schools in the district.The Cabarlah Community School opened in Wirraglen Road, Highfields, in January 2006. It used the Reggio Emilia teaching philosophy. In March 2008 it was closed when the Queensland Government's Non-State Schools Accreditation Board refused to accredit the school, claiming it did not meet the requirements of the Education (Accreditation of Non-State Schools) Act 2001. Although the school appealed the decision, the Queensland Education Minister, Rod Weldford, upheld the board's decision.The Highfields Library opened in 2006 with a major refurbishment in 2017, with a brand new state-of-the-art library/community centre opening in 2022, to cater for the large growth in the district.The Big Cow was built in the 1970s to attract tourists to a working dairy farm at 9-11 Ayrshire Rd, Kulangoor. It is one of the many Australian Big Things. It was sculpted by Hugh Anderson, who also sculpted the Big Bulls in Rockhampton. The Big Cow is seven times the size of an Ayrshire cow on which it is modelled. It is made of concrete and described as "able to withstand a cyclone". After the dairy farm closed, the Big Cow remained on the property which was used for a variety of purposes. In March 2016, the Big Cow was described as "closed and fallen into disrepair". On 10 January 2020, the Big Cow was moved to the Highfields Pioneer Village, where volunteers intend to restore the Big Cow.
Weather
Along with Meringandan, the climate is oceanic (Köppen: Cfb) due to elevation, usually located further south of Australia.
Things to do
The Highfields Pioneer Historical Village has an unusual collection of vintage machinery.The Historical Village also has a fully operating blacksmith shop, a Heritage Chapel, an original Toowoomba 1928 Dennis Fire Engine, a two cell lock up short term prison from 1903, Model T Fords, and a collection of restored antique radios and appliances.
The Danish Flower Art Centre at Highfields hosts a number of displays including a flower barn, Dutch furniture store and operating blacksmith workshop.
The Chocolate Cottage is located at the Village Green which sells antiques, art and other specialty items.
Across the road from the Village Green is Jacaranda Manor. Within Jacaranda Manor is a coffee shop, fudge factory and bead store.
The Davidson Arboretum on Cawdor Road features temperate deciduous ornamentals and conifers. There is also a Bunya pine.