Highfields, Queensland

Highfields Queensland
View over Highfields from Mitchell Road Park, looking west towards Gowrie Mountain.
Highfields
Coordinates	27°27′29″S 151°56′57″E / 27.45806°S 151.94917°E / -27.45806; 151.94917Coordinates: 27°27′29″S 151°56′57″E / 27.45806°S 151.94917°E / -27.45806; 151.94917
Population	7,946 (2011 census)
• Density	478.7/km2 (1,240/sq mi)
Postcode(s)	4352
Elevation	700 m (2,297 ft)
Area	16.6 km2 (6.4 sq mi)
Location	13 km (8 mi) N of Toowoomba
LGA(s)	Toowoomba Region
State electorate(s)	Toowoomba North
Federal Division(s)	Groom
Suburbs around Highfields: Meringandan Kleinton Cabarlah Woolmer Cawdor Highfields Spring Bluff Birnam Blue Mountain Heights Ballard

Highfields is both a town and a locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia along the New England Highway. It is situated on the Great Dividing Range, slightly north of Mount Kynoch. It serves as a satellite suburb to the city of Toowoomba, accommodating many of Toowoomba businesses' employees. At the 2011 census, Highfields had a population of 7,946. The ABS also defines a larger growth area, named Highfields, that includes the suburb and several of those surrounding. At June 2015, the estimated urban population for the Highfields urban area was 18,771. It is the fastest growing area in Queensland and also one of the fastest in Australia.

The area probably takes its name from the Highfields pastoral run, north of the township. The area was first developed in the 1860s. Initially, there were a number of sawmills in the area, harvesting the local timber. Then the construction of the railway line between Ipswich and Toowoomba (completed in 1867) brought railway workers to the district. As the timber-getters cleared the land, dairy farms were established. The first post office openly briefly in 1866 with a weekly mail service from Toowoomba. It re-opened in 1868 and changed its name in December 1877 to Koojarawon. The Highfields School opened on 17 January 1870 in the Rising Sun Hotel under teacher Mr Larkin. The first school building was constructed in the 1880s. In 1906, the school was renamed Koojarawon.

In 1907 the protests of residents resulted in the both the school and the post office returning to the name Highfields. Another post office in the Highfields area is now the Geham Post Office. Coming into the 1960s, the Highfield remained a rural community with, at one stage, only 9 children enrolled in the school. However, residential subdivision started to occur in the 1960s, to a point where it is now considered a satellite town of Toowoomba. The school is now one of the largest primary schools in the district.