page_title: Yeronga Memorial Park
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Yeronga Memorial Park / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo of cenotaph foundation stone at Yeronga Memorial Park, Yeronga, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
context_page_description: Yeronga Memorial Park is a heritage-listed park at Ipswich Road, Yeronga, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The park has an area of 224,600 square metres and is one of the oldest in Brisbane, having been established in 1882, and has been a World War I memorial since 1917. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 2 December 2005.
context_section_description: Yeronga Memorial Park is bounded by Ipswich Road to the east, Villa Street to the north, Park Road to the west, and School Road to the south. Its evolution has reflected the development of Yeronga and a number of important themes and events in Queensland's history.
  The area was inhabited by the Coorparoo or Yerongpan clans of the Jagera tribe before the arrival of Europeans, and continued to be used by them for some time after the establishment of a convict settlement Brisbane in 1824. The area was then used by Europeans to depasture sheep from the Government Farm in Oxley.
  Development of the Darling Downs made the Ipswich Road the main route to the interior, and the initial rough track was surveyed in the 1860s. The first sales of Crown land in the Yeronga area, involving 154 acres, had taken place in 1854. Land use in the area moved towards dairying and crops, including arrowroot, cotton, sugar, corn and potatoes. In 1879, the Queensland Government established a system of local government in Queensland. At that time, Yeronga was situated within the Yeerongpilly Division (a local government area) administered by the Yeerongpilly Divisional Board. The Yeerongpilly Division originally extended from Brisbane south to the Logan River and from Mount Gravatt to Goodna.
  In 1882 the Yeerongpilly Divisional Board declared 419,900 square metres (4,520,000 sq ft) of land off Ipswich Road to be a Public Park and Recreation Ground. In 1886 the Stephens Division (about nine square miles, and including Yeronga) was split off from Yerongpilly Division, putting the park within the Stephens Division, which in 1888 made 417,400 square metres (4,493,000 sq ft) of the park a permanent reserve.
  The first major boost to development around Yeronga occurred when the South Brisbane to Corinda railway link was opened in 1884 including the Yeronga railway station. The railway link initiated Yeronga's popularity as a residential suburb. By 1887 the Stephens Division had a population of 3480, and by the 1890s Yeronga had become popular with the elite, with grand homes intermingling with farming estates and small subdivisions. In 1903, Stephens Division became Stephens Shire. The second main phase of development at Yeronga was again transport-related; it began after the Ipswich Road tramline reached Yeronga Park in 1915.
  Yeronga Memorial Park is one of the oldest parks in Brisbane. In 1882 103 acres and three roods (41.9 hectares), of portions 153A, 154A, and 155A Parish of Yeerongpilly, County of Stanley, was declared a reserve for a Public Park and Recreation Ground. In 1888 102 acres, three roods and 62 perches were declared a permanent reserve under the Stephens Divisional Board, and areas of the current park were cleared. Remaining native vegetation suggests that the reserve was originally open eucalypt forest. However, the extent of the reserve has been reduced over time by excisions. Part of portion 155A was lost in 1888 to the South Coast railway line and a water reserve. In 1902 and 1912 some parts of 155A were given over to Villa Street, and in 1919 part of the school reserve was added to the park to form Honour Avenue, while some land was lost to a repositioning of the railway line. In 1921 part of portion 155A was reserved for showground purposes, but it was returned to the park in 1925.
  In 1930 some land from portion 153A was excised for the erection of the Yeronga Fire Station (1934), and in 1931 land from 153A was added to the school reserve for the construction of a sports oval. In 1950 a part of 153A facing School Road was excised for the Yeronga Kindergarten and Pre-School, and in 1953 the remainder of 155A was removed, later being occupied by Yeronga State High School (1960) and the Yeronga Technical College (1967). In 1975 another part of 153A facing School Road was excised for a Meals on Wheels Depot, and the current park covers 22.46 hectares.
  One of the most historically significant aspects of Yeronga Park is its World War I memorial role, which was developed between 1917 and 1921. Circa 1917, a road was constructed through the
caption: Cenotaph foundation stone, 2015
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