Mutdapilly is a rural village 20 km south of Ipswich. It is thought that the name derives from an Aboriginal expression describing a sticky or muddy gully.
In the 1860s the Ipswich Agricultural Reserve around the Warrill Creek was subdivided for farms. The area was also known as the Normanby Plains, and in 1874 the Normanby Plains primary school was opened at Mutdapilly. There were also Lutheran settlers west of Mutdapilly, and a number of local roads have German names.
When local government was introduced to Queensland in 1879 the Mutdapilly division was established. Its offices were in Ipswich and later Mount Walker. When Normanby division was excised from Mutdapilly division in 1890 Normanby's offices were in Mutdapilly village and remained there until about 1904. The Mutdapilly division's original area was 269 sq miles, but by the time is was merged with Rosewood shire in 1905 its area was almost halved. Despite that, its population stayed about the same from 1881 to 1901. Most farms ran dairy cattle.
Mutdapilly has an historic cemetery (c1870), a Church of England (1921-74), a primary school and a dairy and livestock research station (1981).
Mutdapilly census populations have been:
| census date | population |
|---|---|
| 2006 | 608 |
| 2011 | 390 |
The division/shire's census populations were:
| Census Date | Population |
|---|---|
| 1881 | 1520 |
| 1901 | 1484 |
