Duungidjawu (also known as Kabi Kabi, Cabbee, Carbi, Gabi Gabi) is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken on Duungidjawu country. The Duungidjawu language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of Somerset Region and City of Moreton Bay, particularly the towns of Caboolture, Kilcoy, Woodford and Moore.
Dalla (also known as Dalambara and Dallambara) is a language of the Upper Brisbane River catchment, notably the Conondale Range. Dalla is part of the Duungidjawu language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the Somerset and Moreton Bay councils, particularly the towns of Caboolture]], Kilcoy]], Woodford and Moore.
In 1877, 10,800 acres (4,400 ha) were resumed from the Durundur pastoral run and offered for selection on 19 April 1877.
Mr W. Yates was the first to take possession of his selected portion of the country and he built a hotel near a ford across the river. The hotel, and the town which developed around it became known, unofficially, as Yatesville.
The town was positioned on a hill closer to the Stanley River than the present day town. When the introduction of a regular mail service required the town to have an official name a meeting was called and McConnel was decided on in honour of the senior partner of Durundur Station ‑ but the Postmaster General would not accept that name. Therefore, another meeting was called and those present called it Woodford in honour of the junior partner, Henry Conwell Wood, and in recognition of the importance to the community of the ford across the river.
Timber cutting was the town's main industry. Most of the timber sourced from the area was sent to a sawmill in Caboolture.
Durundur Provisional School opened on 23 October 1882. In 1885, it was renamed Woodford Provisional School. It closed on 28 October 1887 to reopen on 14 November 1887 as Woodford State School.
A Catholic chapel was opened circa September–October 1890. On 11 January 1930, a new Catholic church and school were officially opened by ArchbishopJames Duhig.
St. Matthias' Anglican Church was dedicated on Sunday 28 February 1892 by BishopWilliam Webber. The site on the northern bank of One Mile Creek and much of the cost of the building the church were donated by Messrs McConnel and Wood of Durundur Station. The architect was John H. Buckeridge. A desire for a more central site resulted in its relocation to its current site using a bullock wagon in 1914. It was re-opened on Tuesday 2 December 1913 by the Anglican Archdeacon of Brisbane.
Dairying was also a major industry. A co-operative dairy factory opened in the town in 1904.
St Joseph's Catholic School opened on 28 January 1930 and closed in December 1965.
The Woodford public library opened in 1978.
The Maleny Folk Festival relocated from Maleny to Woodford in July 1994, then being renamed the Woodford Folk Festival. The festival commenced in the showgrounds at Maleny in 1987 but its popularity outgrew the site.
Woodford was one of the principal locations for the 2003 low-budget horror film, Undead.
The Festival of the Dreaming, which celebrates Indigenous Australian culture, was first held at Woodford on 10 to 13 June 2005, having started and been held annually in Sydney since 1997. It was held annually until it was incorporated into the Woodford Folk Festival in 2011–2012.
A local landmark up until its closure in 2010 was the Elvis Presley-themed fruit and vegetable shop, Elvis Parsley's Grapelands.
New housing subdivisions were established on Kropp Road and Ironbark Drive during 2010 and 2011.
In 2010 and 2011, the Australian music festival Splendour in the Grass was held in Woodford on the Woodford Folk Festival site.
The town had an online community newspaper from 2010 to approximately 2014.
Demographics
In the 2011 census, the locality of Woodford had a population of 2,517 people, 40.2% female and 59.8% male. The median age of the Woodford population was 37 years, the same as the national median. 82.9% of people living in Woodford were born in Australia. The other top responses for country of birth were New Zealand 4.6%, England 3.4%, Netherlands 0.8%, Scotland 0.7%, Vietnam 0.4%. 74.7% of people spoke only English at home; the next most common languages were 0.7% Dutch, 0.3% German, 0.1% Filipino, 0.1% French, 0.1% Spanish.
In the 2016 census, the locality of Woodford had a population of 3,458 people.
In the 2021 census, the locality of Woodford had a population of 4,022 people.
For secondary education to Year 12, the nearest government secondary schools are Tullawong State High School in Caboolture to the south-east, Beerwah State High School in Beerwah to the north-east, and Kilcoy State High School in Kilcoy to the west.
The Woodford Markets are held on the third Sunday of each month in the middle of the town.
The Woodford Show is held in June each year.
Attractions
The Australian Narrow Gauge Railway Museum Society operates a railway museum at the Woodford railway station. The society was established in January 1971 to preserve the history of narrow-gauge railways in Queensland. The society has collected steam, diesel and petrol locomotives and rollingstock using the 2-foot gauge and has established their Durundur railway at Woodford as an operating heritage line. The society operates a steam train on the first and third Sunday of each month.
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^"QUEENSLAND NOTES". The Catholic Press. No. 1776. New South Wales, Australia. 23 January 1930. p. 23. Archived from the original on 6 June 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Woodford". The Week. Vol. XXXIII, no. 845. Queensland, Australia. 4 March 1892. p. 23. Archived from the original on 6 June 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
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^"COUNTRY TELEGRAMS". The Brisbane Courier. No. 17, 439. Queensland, Australia. 4 December 1913. p. 8. Archived from the original on 6 June 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Our story". Kilcoy-Woodford Anglican Parish. Archived from the original on 1 March 2022. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
^"Woodford Library". Public Libraries Connect. State Library of Queensland. 13 November 2017. Archived from the original on 29 January 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
^Blake, Thom. "Woodford Baptist Church". Queensland religious places database. Archived from the original on 2 December 2021. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
^Stanley River Cricket ClubArchived 8 September 2012 at archive.today
Woodford is home to the Stanley River Wolves Rugby League Football club which has team in both junior and senior competitions in the Sunshine Coast Rugby League
Woodford has a mixed social Touch Football club
Woodford has an excellent championship 18 hole par 72 Golf Course. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
^"Woodford Country Markets". Woodford Historical Society. 9 April 2019. Archived from the original on 15 March 2022. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
^"ANGRMS: About". Australian Narrow Gauge Railway Museum Society. Archived from the original on 8 March 2022. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
^"ANGRMS: Open Days/News". Australian Narrow Gauge Railway Museum Society. Archived from the original on 8 March 2022. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
^"Home". Woodford Historical Society. Archived from the original on 15 March 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2022.