The town is located in the centre of the locality.[6] The main street through the town is the north-southKingsthorpe Haden Road, which is known with the town as Mocatta Street.[6]
The nameGoombungee derives from the parish, which in turn took its name from a pastoral run name named by pastoralist Charles William Pitts in 1854. It is thought be a corruption of an Aboriginal name for area, eithergoubunga orgonbunga.[3][4][12]
The first meeting of the former local government area ofShire of Rosalie was held on 17 February 1879.[13] The town is now part of theToowoomba Region local government area. Goombungee Post Office opened by 1895 (areceiving office had been open from 1878, first known as Gomoran).[14]
Local residents requested a school on 31 May 1880, claiming there were 36 school-aged children in the district. Goombungee Provisional School opened on 1 November 1881 in a 24-by-16-foot (7.3 by 4.9 m) weatherboard building with a shingle roof. The first head teacher was Mrs Annie McLeod Rowland. Although only 17 students enrolled in the school's first year, the original building became too small as the student numbers increased. A new larger building was opened on 3 October 1887 when the school became Goombungee State School. A new school building was built in 1933.[15][16]
In October 1890, St Matthew's Lutheran Church opened with 500 people in attendance.[17]
St Colman's Catholic Church, 1903
St Colman's Catholic Church was opened on Sunday 20 April 1902.[18]
In August 1889 theQueensland Government provided 10 acres (4.0 ha) of land for a cemetery.[19] However, the soil proved too difficult to dig a grave, so another 6.2-acre (2.5 ha) cemetery reserve was provided on 17 January 1894. The first burial in the new cemetery was Edith Annie Lloyd, aged 10 months, occurring on 23 July 1894.[20] Although intended as a cemetery for Goombungee, its location resulted in it being used by residents of both Goombungee andHaden and the name Goombungee-Haden Cemetery began to be used in 1925. In 2008 the cemetery's private trustees handed over the responsibility for the cemetery to theToowoomba Regional Council.[21]
The Goombungee Congregational Church was completed in July 1903. As part of the creation of theUniting Church in Australia, in 1977 it became the Goombungee Uniting Church in conjunction with the East Lynne (Boodua) Methodist congregation. In 1979, the formerGreenwood Methodist Church was relocated to the site immediately east of the Congregational Church building and was officially opened as the new Goombungee Uniting Church on 22 April 1979 with the Congregational Church building becoming the church hall. In late 1999 the former Congregational Church building was demolished and thePeranga Uniting Church relocated to its site to be new church hall. On 26 August 2012 the site (with the Greenwood and Peranga buildings) was decommissioned as a church and subsequently sold into private ownership for $185,000.[22][23] The church was at 6 George Street (27°18′28″S151°51′12″E / 27.3079°S 151.8534°E /-27.3079; 151.8534 (Goombungee Uniting Church (former))) and the church buildings are still extant (as at 2020).[24][6]
Goombungee Methodist Church was officially opened on Wednesday 7 October 1903.[25][26][27]
On Thursday 30 April 1908, St Mark's Anglican Church was opened by ArchdeaconHenry Le Fanu.[28]
TheAssembly of God church was built by volunteer labour on land donated by Stan and Mavis Kajewski. On 25 August 1956 the church was officially opened by Pastor H E Wiggins of Maryborough. When the Assembly of God amalgamated to form theAustralian Christian Churches, the church was renamed Goombungee Christian Church.[31]
Goombungee Wesleyan Methodist Church was established in 1981.[32]
In 2003, the town was connected to a mains water supply.[33]
In 2019 the Anglican parish of Crows Nest (which includes Goombungee) entered in a partnership with St David's Anglican Church inChelmer,Brisbane, to share their ministry through a combination of services at the various churches combined with online services from St David's. It is an experiment in how the Anglican Church may operate in the future.[35]
Each November, Goombungee hosts a Jacaranda Day festival in the main street, celebrating the history of the town and the bloomingjacarandas andsilky oaks.
The annual Goombungee-Haden Show is held each autumn at the Showgrounds . The Goombungee Rodeo is also held there on the first Saturday in November.[5][57]
The town boasts a unique ironman at the southern entrance to the town which is reminiscent of the Rural Ironman and Ironwoman competition which was once held annually onAustralia Day.[64] There is also a historic museum and an art gallery.
^"Official Notifications".The Brisbane Courier. Vol. XLVI, no. 9, 845. Queensland, Australia. 3 August 1889. p. 4.Archived from the original on 26 August 2021. Retrieved18 December 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
^"SOUTHPORT".The Brisbane Courier. Vol. LX, no. 14, 275. Queensland, Australia. 14 October 1903. p. 2. Retrieved27 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
^"NEW METHODIST CHURCH".Darling Downs Gazette. Vol. XLVI, no. 10, 951. Queensland, Australia. 12 October 1903. p. 2. Retrieved27 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
