Gatton, Queensland

Gatton Queensland
A Landsat montage of Gatton township
Gatton
Coordinates	27°33′32″S 152°16′34″E / 27.55889°S 152.27611°E / -27.55889; 152.27611Coordinates: 27°33′32″S 152°16′34″E / 27.55889°S 152.27611°E / -27.55889; 152.27611
Population	6,869 (2011 census)
Established	1855
Postcode(s)	4343
Elevation	94 m (308 ft)
Time zone	AEST (UTC+10)
Location	86 km (53 mi) W of Brisbane 37 km (23 mi) E of Toowoomba
LGA(s)	Lockyer Valley Region
County	Churchill
Parish	Gatton
State electorate(s)	Electoral district of Lockyer
Federal Division(s)	Division of Wright
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall 26.8 °C 80 °F 13.0 °C 55 °F 768.6 mm 30.3 in
Localities around Gatton: Ringwood Adare Lake Clarendon Placid Hills Gatton Lawes Lower Tenthill Woodlands Glen Cairn

Gatton is a town and the administrative centre of the Lockyer Valley local government area situated in the Lockyer Valley of South East Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 census, Gatton had a population of 6,869.

Over recent years, the rural tranquility of the Gatton area has started to be encroached on by the suburban sprawl of metropolitan Brisbane and Ipswich in the east and Toowoomba in the west. The Warrego Highway, which runs east–west through the Shire, has also experienced increasing strip development, with fuel outlets and commercial properties gradually spreading along the highway.

The Gatton area was explored by Major Edmund Lockyer in 1825. A settlement known as Gatton was gazetted in 1855. The post office opened 1 January 1866, with Frederick Lloyd, a dairyman, as the first postmaster. The small village did not experience significant growth until the mid-1870s, after the railway to Grandchester attracted people to the area.

The Queensland Agricultural College opened an agricultural college and experimental farm in 1897 at Gatton.

In December 1898 three local youths from nearby Blackfellow’s Creek were murdered. The crime, known as the Gatton murders, has never been solved.

The Star is a free, local, community newspaper which began publishing in 1956.

Gatton has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

As part of the "Salad Bowl" of the Lockyer Valley, the area is primarily agricultural, with vegetables making up the majority of crops. Fruit was grown extensively in the area until the 1990s, when economic conditions changed and many of the orchards were removed. There is also significant beef and dairy cattle farming, (Stanbroke Beef operates its abattoir at nearby Grantham) along with a growing equine industry, and the town is also a noted producer of fodder crops, particularly prime lucerne hay.