Mount Louisa, a residential and industrial suburb, is 10 km south-west of central Townsville and immediately west of Garbutt. The topographical Mount Louisa was named by a stockman in 1864.
During World War II Mount Louisa was an adjunct to the large Garbutt aerodrome, and had a large depot and a runway known as Stock Route Airstrip. Upwards of 4000 US personnel were stationed there.
Mount Louisa's urbanisation dates from the 1970s. The Assemblies of God established a church and the Calvary Christian College in Bayswater Road (1978). Housing areas have extended along the east-west Bayswater Road corridor and southwards toward the Mount Louisa range. A new suburb with low-set houses, it has attracted residents with better-than-average weekly earnings.
Mount Louisa's census populations have been:
| Census Date | Population |
|---|---|
| 1986 | 2992 |
| 1996 | 3707 |
| 2001* | 3951 |
| 2006 | 4625 |
| 2011 | 7992 |
*including Bohle and Mount St John
Rodney Cardell, Wings around us: wartime memories of aviation in northern Australia: an autobiographical account of wartime memories of the Stock Route Air Strip, Mount Louisa, Townsville, Brisbane, Amphion Press, 1992
