Inglewood Shire

Inglewood Shire, an area of 5862 sq km, immediately west of Stanthorpe, had as its southern border, the boundary between Queensland and New South Wales, the Dumaresq River. The shire's administrative centre, Inglewood (on the Cunningham Highway) is 210 km south-west of Brisbane. In 2008 Inglewood Shire was amalgamated with Goondiwindi Town Council and Waggamba Shire Council to form Goondiwindi Regional Council.

In 1827 the explorer Allan Cunningham, crossed the Dumaresq River, journeying from New South Wales to Moreton Bay. Proceeding from his crossing near Beebo, Cunningham passed through scrub and came upon Macintyre Brook with contrasting alluvium river flats and wooded grassland. It was near here that the town of Inglewood was surveyed (1862), the name apparently derived from an Aboriginal word 'ingle', describing cypress pines.

Much of the surrounding land was taken up as pastoral stations in the 1840s-50s. Closer-settlement began in the mid-1880s. Tobacco was grown along the Dumaresq River flats at Texas (1882-1980s), aided by weirs for irrigation. Larger water storages – Coolamunda near Inglewood (1968) and Glenlyon near Texas (1976) – today irrigate lucerne, grain and feed for beef cattle. About one-fifth of the shire remains as State forest for saw logs.

The railway through Inglewood, from Warwick to Goondiwindi, was opened in 1907. A branch from Inglewood to Texas was opened in 1930, mainly for freight and to serve the Silverspur mine (1893-1932) about 10 km east of Texas. The line ceased operation in 1985.

Inglewood Shire was described in the 1946 Australian Blue Book:

At various times there were 19 village and local schools in the shire. The last of them closed in the 1980s. By then Inglewood and Texas each had a State P-10 school and a Catholic primary school.

The Inglewood local government division was formed in 1879 and included Leyburn in the adjoining Rosenthal district for its first ten years. Rosenthal was detached in 1889 and the Inglewood division acquired shire status in 1903. Its facilities were shared between Inglewood and Texas (populations 867 and 701 in 2001). Agriculture was the shire's dominant employer (38% of the total in 2001), followed by wholesale and retail (13%), health and community services (9%) and eduction (7%). In 1993 the shire had 405,000 sheep and lambs, 84,000 beef cattle, 7900 ha of cereals and 5150 of fodder crops. Since those statistics olive growing began, with large-scale plantations and oil production. Low cost oil imports have hindered expansion.

Inglewood Shire's census populations were:

The median age of the shire's residents in 2001 was 40 and the median weekly income per person was $292, 9% below the median for the rural parts of the Darling Downs.