Location

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History

Park Ridge was originally known as the Logan Ridges. The post office changed the name to Park Ridge in the early 1890s, apparently to reflect the park-like nature of region.

In 1893, residents in the area now known as Boronia Heights lobbied the government for a provisional school. The local population, who described themselves as mostly Yorkshiremen, included James Calam, John Storey, Ann Cordingley, Isaac Mayes, Elizabeth Oxford and Thomas Butler. They had all built comfortable cottages with fenced paddocks and gardens, and had a considerable area of land under cultivation. The locals banded together to build the school, which was originally located between Rosia Road and Hillcrest Road. The building was completed in April 1895.

Unfortunately the school was built without ant capping and, by 1907, was in a dangerous condition with white ant damage from the stumps to the rafters. Eventually the old disused Browns Plains School was moved to a new site to service both Park Ridge and Browns Plains. It was located on its present site, between Park Ridge Road and Taringa Street. The land was donated by Mr F H Seeleither and the deeds transferred to the government on 7 March 1913. The old school was used for public meetings until it was no longer safe.

Timber getting and farming were the main industries during the 1890s, with Mr Cordingley operating the blacksmith shop and John Storey as post master. During the 1930s, local farmers tried tobacco growing with little success, and they later turned to poultry.

In 1952, residents began fund raising for a hall. The hall was officially opened on Saturday 10 October 1953 by Councillor Larry Storey, whose grandparents had been early settlers in Park Ridge. Other former residents John and Mabel Cordingley, from Kingston, were welcomed at the opening, because John had been the Park Ridge mail contractor for 38 years.

In the early 1970s, Beaudesert Shire Council began installing reticulated water to the region. In January 1972, a public meeting was held in the Park Ridge hall to inform the residents of the water supply’s progress and to let people with acreage properties know the likely costs of water connection. Beaudesert Shire Council completed construction of a water tower at Park Ridge in January 1973.

The first doctor in the Park Ridge/Browns Plains region established a practice in the Milperra shopping centre, which opened in 1976.

A public swimming pool at the Park Ridge State School was opened by Premier Wayne Goss on 23 March 1991. It was jointly financed by Logan City Council and the school committee. The pool was open to the public outside of school hours.

Park Ridge State High School opened in 1991. Two private schools have opened in Park Ridge: Saint Philomena's Catholic School in Kosleck Road, which was established in 1999, and Parklands Christian College, which opened in 2001 adjacent to the original site of the first Park Ridge school on the corner of Rosia Road.