Peak Crossing is a rural village 20 km south of central Ipswich. It is west of Flinders Peak (675m) which is in the Scenic Rim, and was named after a crossing point on the Purga Creek. Peak Crossing is nine km west of Flinders Peak.
Farm selections in the Peak Crossing district were taken up in the 1860s, and a primary school was opened in 1871. At first named Purga Creek, it was renamed Peak Mountain in about 1875 and Peak Crossing in the early 1920s. By the end of the 1870s Peak Crossing had a Congregational church, two stores and the Peak Mountain Hotel. In 1882 the railway to Harrisville was opened with a stop at Peak Crossing, and a Catholic church was built. There is a record of a Presbyterian church in the 1892 post office directory.
The Catholic Church appears to have been the strongest faith in the district, with its adherents forming a Hibernian Society in 1881.
Peak Crossing had an active farming community, and it continues in conjunction with rural/residential living and the Peak Views estate west of the village. There are a general store, the Peak Pub and the P-7 school with an enrolment of 209 pupils in 2013.
Peak Crossing's census populations have been:
Census Date | Population |
---|---|
1921 | 251 |
1961 | 290 |
2001 | 244 |
2006 | 683 |
2011 | 768 |
Peak Crossing State School: celebrating 125 years, 1871-1996: success through diligence, Peak Crossing, 125th Anniversary Committee, 1996