Petrie

Petrie, on the North Pine River, is 25 km north of Brisbane. The origin of the township can be traced to the late 1860s when a coach service between Brisbane and Gympie stopped at Tom Petrie's Murrumba homestead (built 1864). Petrie opened a hostelry in 1870 and official recognition of the locality came in 1872 when a post office was opened. The place was known as North Pine, the name continuing until 1911, the year after the death of Tom Petrie.

North Pine was described in the 1903 Australian handbook:

A primary school, a Methodist church and a Presbyterian church were opened between 1874 and 1984.

The northern railway line through North Pine was opened in 1888, and a fine example of a timber school of arts followed in 1890. North Pine was an agricultural district and in 1905 its Agricultural, Horticultural and Industrial Association held its first agricultural show at what is now Wyllie Park where Gympie Road crosses the river. The year before, North Pine was described in the Australian Handbook 1925 as having only a hotel, two storekeepers and a few other artisans and businesses in the township; dairy produce was transported to the Dayboro factory cooperative.

Petrie became increasingly urbanised during the 1970s, following on from the initial boost given by the completion of the Australian Paper Mills factory east of the railway station in 1957. Subsequent adjoining suburbs have included Murrumba Downs (to the east), Lawnton (to the south), and Kallangur (to the north). Petrie has State and Catholic (1964) primary schools, the Kurwongbah State primary school (1986), a Catholic secondary school (1970), numerous parks and reserves, but the showground site was transferred to Lawnton in about 1910. There are shops at the intersection of Gympie and Dayboro Roads, a short walk from the railway station.

Petries census populations have been: