Samford Village, known as Samford until 1981, is 22 km north-west of Brisbane, on the upper reaches of the South Pine River. The township / village is surrounded on the three sides by Samford Valley. The origin of the name is unrecorded.
Being in a relatively secluded valley, the Samford area was not settled by Europeans until 1855 when the Samford pastoral run was taken up. Parts of the run, particularly fertile river flats, were subject to closer-settlement in the late 1860s, and a primary school was opened in 1872. The Samford Range and Mount Nebo were harvested for cedar and hoop pine and the cleared land was used for dairying.
In 1919 the Farmers' Hall was opened by Samford farmers, coinciding with plans for soldier settlement farms in Highvale further west. The opening of the railway line (1919) through Samford, terminating at Dayboro, improved marketing conditions for dairying and banana growing. Pugh's Queensland directory recorded a hotel, two sawmills, two storekeepers, a railway refreshment room and several tradespeople at Samford in 1925. There was also a Methodist church (1878).
It was not until the 1970s that the Agricultural, Horticultural and Industrial Association held its first show at the showground in Highvale. With the encroachment of urban subdivisions, the showground's rural surround has decreased.
Samford Village is a compact township with three churches, a school and a public reserve. A scout camp (1950s) and a CSIRO livestock field station are nearby, and elsewhere in Samford Valley there are extensive public reserves, tennis courts and the Samford Valley Steiner School (1987).
Samford Village's census populations have been:
| Census Date | Population |
|---|---|
| 1911 | 266 |
| 1966 | 353 |
| 2001 | 445 |
| 2006 | 656 |
| 2011 | 752 |
Samford Valley's census populations, mainly living on rural/residential subdivisions, have been:
| census date | population |
|---|---|
| 2006 | 2630 |
| 2011 | 3044 |
