Samford, Queensland

Samford Queensland
Centre of Samford Village
Samford
Coordinates	27°22′S 152°53′E / 27.367°S 152.883°E / -27.367; 152.883Coordinates: 27°22′S 152°53′E / 27.367°S 152.883°E / -27.367; 152.883
Population	10,931 (2011 census)
Established	1855
Postcode(s)	4520
Location	21 km (13 mi) from Brisbane
LGA(s)	Moreton Bay Region
State electorate(s)	Ferny Grove
Federal Division(s)	Dickson
Localities around Samford: Cedar Creek Yugar Draper Highvale Samford Draper Wights Mountain Camp Mountain Ferny Hills

Samford is a community located in South East Queensland, Australia, which comprises Samford Village (population 749, MBRC Profile.id, 2011) and Samford Valley. It is roughly 21 kilometres (13 mi) north west of Brisbane. The hilly area was first settled in the mid-1850s. The area is very popular with cyclists and the area saw an explosion of local coffee shops between 2010 and 2015.

Samford was occupied by the indigenous people who named it Kupidabin, an Aboriginal word from the Waka language, meaning 'place of possums'. They named D.L. Brown's land in Samford, Karandukamari. Samford was an important location for "kippa-ring" or initiation ceremony. Tribes from Ipswich, Cressbrook, Mount Brisbane and Brisbane would travel here to have their "kippas" (young men) initiated.

Samford's very first inhabitants were an aboriginal tribe which belonged to the Waka language group, whose territory also included the upper Brisbane River and the South Burnett. While there are no aboriginal tribes still living in Samford, their history remains by means of the Bora Ring at Wights Mountain, the burial site near Upper Camp Mountain Road and the records kept at the local historical museum.

Although they're closer to Brisbane than most acreage areas in the Moreton Bay Regional Council, the secluded valleys of the upper reaches of the South Pine River were not settled by Europeans until the mid-1850s. The first land auctions were held on 1 February 1855. After the subdivision of farms into acreage homesites commenced in the 1960s, with substantial upgrading of road access completed more recently, many of Samford's residents commute to work in Brisbane.

Buildings began to appear in Samford Village's Main Street in 1916. The first business to open in the Samford area was a shop and bakehouse which was owned and built by Alex Lawson. In 1919, the O'Hara's Hotel (the Samford Hotel) shifted to its current location. The location from which the hotel previously operated was purchased and used by the CSIRO. In the late 1950s, this hotel again changed its name from the Samford Railway Hotel to the Golden Valley Hotel.

By 1908, banana growing on the steep ridges at the foot of the ranges had become one of the most important industries in the Samford district. After World War 1, the government created additional small farms so that returned servicemen with limited capital were able to get started in the industry. During 1926 and 1927, more bananas were consigned to southern markets from Samford Railway Station than any other railway station in Queensland. This success was short-lived, however, as a virus which had wiped out banana growing in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, 'Bunchy Top' disease, finally affected the crop and was the primary reason for the decline of the industry in the Pine Rivers Shire.