Virginia

Virginia, a residential suburb, is 11 km north-east of central Brisbane. It is thought that it was named after the American state of Virginia. Originally an area consisting of farm lands and swamp, Virginia is situated on the Downfall Creek which is joined by the Zillman Waterholes stream at Virginia's eastern boundary. The Downfall Creek swampland is now enclosed by the Virginia Golf Course (1930).

Selectively occupied for farm purposes, Virginia became an identified district with the opening of the North Coast railway line in 1888. Four years later the Virginia Brick company was formed, with its quarry and works west of the railway station. A post office was opened in 1898.

A small village formed around the railway station, with a Presbyterian church (1911) and a primary school (1920) to the west, and a general store and houses near the junction of Toombul and Sandgate Roads on the other side. A School of Arts (1922) was shared with Northgate at the corner of Scott and Ridge Streets. Although there was local employment at the brick and pipe works, the Northgate railway workshops and the fruit cannery near Banyo, residential development was not forced out to Virginia until the late 1950s. Development included several factories along the railway corridor, which by the late 1990s were being redeveloped for other commercial uses.

Virginia has a linear park along Downfall Creek, a recreation reserve and the much larger golf course. Its census populations have been: