page_title: The Gap, Queensland
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: The Gap, Queensland / History
caption_attribution_description: The Gap War Memorial at Walton Bridge Reserve
context_page_description: The Gap is a leafy and hilly suburb of the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, located approximately 8 kilometres west of the Brisbane CBD.
context_section_description: Initially inhabited by the Turrbal people, The Gap was originally heavily forested. With the arrival of European settlement, timber felling became the first industry in the area, and with the removal of the timber the area was turned over to farming. The first crown lease of land was in 1851, to Darby McGrath who ran a sheep station across the entire valley. The first freehold land sale was made in 1858, to P.B. and J. Paten in the area where Paten road runs today. Access to The Gap in the 1850s was via tracks which became Waterworks and Payne Roads. They also provided access to Enoggera Dam which was built in 1866 to provide a water supply for Brisbane. Following World War I the area was broken up into smaller farms for returned servicemen, many of whom farmed poultry and dairy cattle. Many of these farms were too small to be commercially successful, however small pockets of farming remained in The Gap until the 1980s.
  From 1879 The Gap was part of the local government area called Ithaca Division, then part of the Shire of Enoggera from 1887 to 1925.
  A map advertised the sale of 800 allotments at Royal Park Estate, now The Gap and St. John's Wood Extension Estate, Ashgrove by F. M. Anglim in August 1927.
  Masons jam factory used to be located to the east of the Ashgrove Golf Course, but has not existed for the past two decades. A gold mine was located near the entrance to Payne Road Primary School. The billabong between The Gap State High School and Payne Road Primary School used to be a favourite swimming location and over the years has been home to turtles, eels and platypus. It was named Shepherd's Pool, supposedly after a shepherd who was killed by aborigines in 1852, although the name may derive from a P.A. Shepherd, who leased the adjacent land in the 1930s. There used to be a toll gate located on Waterworks Road near what is now the entrance to Brisbane Forest Park.
  The Gap War Memorial is located at Walton Bridge Reserve and commemorates those who served in World War I and World War II.
caption: The Gap War memorial at Walton Bridge Reserve, 2010
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