Wongabel is a rural locality in the Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Wongabel had a population of 251 people.

Geography

The Atherton–Herberton Road runs through from north to south-west.

History

The locality takes its name from the Wongabel railway station, named on 20 October 1910 by the Queensland Railway Department. It is an Aboriginal word meaning wood pigeon.

Herberton Range Provisional School opened in 1909 and closed in 1910. It was a tent school to provide schooling for the children of railway workers living in railway camps during the construction of the railway through the Herberton Range.

In World War II as part of the Atherton Project, tent encampments were established by the Australian Army (6th and 7th Divisions) near Wongabel, Wondecla and Ravenshoe.

Demographics

In the 2016 census Wongabel had a population of 221 people.

In the 2021 census, Wongabel had a population of 251 people.