Rangeville, a residential suburb, is two km south-east of central Toowoomba. It adjoins Middle Ridge (known as German Settlement at first) and was part of that community which was incorporated as a separate shire (1886-1917).
The Rangeville primary school opened in 1909 and was fortunate in having for its first 11 years Thomas Henderson as headmaster. Henderson enthusiastically installed attractive gardens, an adventure playground and a gymnasium, and formed a bugle band. The musical tradition continues with class choirs.
In 1906 the Middle Ridge Council acquired two allotments near the east end of South Street for parkland, thus beginning a project that became the Picnic Point Park. The site has an eastwards view of Mount Tabletop, about 2 km distant. For a similar reason, a well-to-do resident built a four-storey house, Geeumbi, at 1 South Street in 1914. These and similar house projects established Rangeville as a prime residential precinct. Picnic Point Park is reached by Tourist Road, and grew by stages to 65 ha. Both Picnic Point and Geeumbi are listed on the Queensland heritage register.
Rangeville is mainly a postwar suburb, with house-building continuing until the end of the 1990s. A Catholic school which opened in 1956 is on the boundary with East Toowoomba. A drive-in shopping centre near the school, High Street Plaza, has a supermarket and about 20 other retail and service outlets. In addition to Picnic Point, Rangeville has a bushland and other reserves in the east and a linear park and wetland on its western boundary.
Rangeville's census populations have been:
| census date | population |
|---|---|
| 2006 | 8419 |
| 2011 | 8217 |
Angus Lucas et al, eds, Rangeville State School: 90th anniversary, Toowoomba, Rangeville State School, 1999
