Gaythorne is a residential suburb eight km north-west of central Brisbane. Until 2000 it was a locality, comprising the western part of Enoggera. Its northern boundary is Kedron Brook, and its western and eastern boundaries are Prospect Road and the Enoggera Park. From there it runs south-west of Samford Road to the Enoggera Military Camp.
Gaythorne was named after a property owned by Howard Bliss. Until 1923, however, the locality and railway station were named Rifle Range.
Soon after the railway extension (1916) there was scope for an industrial estate at Bellevue Avenue. There were the Gaythorne Ice Works and the Wunderlich asbestos-cement sheet factory. Near the railway station there was the Enoggera Presbyterian church (1915-77). The Rangeview housing estate was put on the market in 1919, and shops later opened near the railway station. The Civic picture theatre was a fondly remembered venue from 1937 until the 1960s. On the south side of Samford Road, Mitchelton, there had been a Light Horse training ground during World War I, and the site was used as an internment camp during World War II. The Gaythorne RSL now occupies part of the site. Gaythorne Bowls Club (1938) is nearby, on the west side of Prospect Road.
North of the Bellevue Road industrial area the Australian Catholic University had its McAuley campus. The site is now a Baptist theological college. The Wunderlich/James Hardie factory was closed in 1983. A public meeting of residents in 2014 at the Gaythorne RSL raised concerns about old asbestos sheets being found in a creek that leads into Kedron Brook. In 2014 Queensland Health confirmed that 8 men who lived within 1.5 km of the asbestos factory had been diagnosed with the asbestos-related disease mesothelioma since 1982.
Gaythorne's population (2655 residents in 2011) had a median age of 31 years, compared with 37 for Australia. With proximity to the military camp, 11.8% of its employed residents worked in defence.
Enoggera entry
