Mitchelton

Mitchelton, a residential suburb, is nine km north-west of central Brisbane. It is on the Ferny Grove railway line and lies between Kedron Brook and the Enoggera Military Camp. Mitchelton was most probably named after an early settler family, the Mitcheltons or Nicholas Mitchell, whose property was named Mitchelton.

Whereas Kedron Brook downstream a few kilometres drew tanneries and fellmongers, the area around Mitchelton was used for farming. Viticulturists settled at neighbouring Grovely in 1864. The Anglican church was built in 1867 on land donated by the local Nicholson family.

In 1916 the Grovely primary school was opened, the name changing to Mitchelton in 1925. Two years after the school was opened a railway line from Mayne to Mitchelton began operation. Whilst the line was extended to Samford and Dayboro within a couple of years, ostensibly for the transport of rural dairy and orchard produce, it caused a flurry of subdivisions and housing in Mitchelton. The Catholic Church built the Good Shepherd Home in Prospect Road, opened a primary school (1951), and built the Redemptorist Fathers Monastery and a church in Church Road. The Monastery later became a retirement village.

By the early postwar years Mitchelton's population exceeded 3000. The Post Office directory in 1949 recorded Presbyterian, Anglican and Catholic churches and a shopping centre along Osborne Road, including a picture theatre. Neighbouring Keperra was also growing, and in 1956 the Mitchelton high school, on the border between the two suburbs, was opened. The rapid suburban growth outstripped the capacities of the local shopping centres, and the northern half of the Good Shepherd site was sold for the Brookside drive-in shopping centre (1971). It has undergone two stages of redevelopment and has a department store, a discount department store, supermarkets, and about 120 specialty shops. The remaining half of the Good Shepherd site became the Mount Maria Senior College (1978). Immediately to the east the Sisters of Mercy opened McAuley College (1985) which became a campus of the Australian Catholic University (1991-2003) until sold for housing. Mitchelton Park, between the railway line and Samford Road, has the Gaythorne Bowling Club. West of the railway station, Blackwood Street has several cafes and restaurants.

The north-west part of Mitchelton includes the Oxford Park locality and railway station.

Mitchelton's census populations have been: