Wangan, a rural and residential town, is on the old Bruce Highway, seven km north of South Johnstone on the way to Innisfail. It is thought that the name was derived from an Aboriginal word referring to the crow.

After a sawmill in Innisfail burnt down in 1907 the proprietors shifted milling operations to Wangan, and in 1924 the North Coast railway line was completed between Innisfail and South Johnstone. The Currajah Hotel was opened in Wangan in the 1930s.

After World War II the town was enlarged, with new streets named after wartime places such as Kokoda and Lae. Business activity later slackened off with the closure of the sawmill and a foundry, but the re-routing of the Bruce Highway created a quiet environment which encouraged residential living during the 1990s. House prices in Wangan in 2003-04 increased by 24%, compared with 4% in Innisfail.

Wangan has a sports ground, a community centre, local shops, a post office and the picturesque Currajah Hotel. Its census populations have been:

Census DatePopulation
1954303
1981502
1996631
2001588
2006607
2011585
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