The town is named after a pastoral run held by J.D. McTaggart in the late 1850s. It is an Aboriginal word meaning swimming in water or a swimming creek.
When the construction of a railway line between Brisbane and Gympie was being contemplated in 1884–5, one of the routes being considered was through the Mary Valley. However, this was not the route chosen, and the residents of the valley who were disappointed at missing out on rail connection agitated for many years until the Mary Valley branch line was built. The first section south from Monkland to Kandanga (via Amamoor) was completed in October 1914 with Amamoor railway station (26°20′36″S152°40′27″E / 26.3432°S 152.6741°E / -26.3432; 152.6741 (Amamoor railway station)) serving the locality. The second stage to Brooloo was completed in April 1915. The final stage to Kenilworth was to be built in 1920 but was never completed.
Amamoor Post Office opened around 1920.
Amamoor State School opened on 10 October 1921. In 1949 the former Bollier State School building was relocated to Amarmoor State School. Aramoor State School was relocated to its current location in Elizabeth Street in the 1950s.
On Mother's Day 1986, six families held the first service of a newly formed Wesleyan Methodist congregation. Initially they met in a farmhouse until they purchased and converted an industrial building into the Mary Valley Wesleyan Methodist Church.
In 1993, the services on the Mary Valley railway line were reduced, terminating at Melawondi, and the entire line was closed in 1994, ending Amamoor's rail connection.
Demographics
In the 2016 census, the locality of Amamoor had a population of 636 people.
In the 2021 census, the locality of Amamoor had a population of 720 people.
There are no secondary schools in Amamoor. The nearest secondary school is Mary Valley State College in Imbil to the south, but it only offers secondary schooling to Year 10. For secondary schooling to Year 12, the nearest secondary school is Gympie State High School in Gympie to the north.
^Blake, Thom. "Amamoor Methodist Church". Queensland religious places database. Archived from the original on 8 December 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
^"History". Mary Valley Wesleyan Methodist Church. Archived from the original on 29 February 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2021.