Focus on Moorooka

My main areas of specialty are Moorooka, Coopers Plains, Salisbury and surrounding areas. I have lived in these areas for many many years providing me with the expert (some would call bias!) advice on these great value suburbs. I thought today I would share with you some interesting facts on Moorooka. My children were happily brought up in Moorooka attending the local school St Brendan's and playing footy at the local St Brendan's football club.



Moorooka (population 8,576) is a suburb of Brisbane. Bordering with Toohey Forest Park, it is seven kilometres south of Brisbane's central business district.

History
The word Moorooka is an indigenous word, either meaning 'iron bark', referring to the numerous iron bark trees in the area, or 'long nose', referring to Mt Toohey at the suburb's periphery.

Transport
The rail line to Robina on the Gold Coast forms the western border of the suburb. Commuter trains on the Beenleigh line stop at Moorooka railway station. Between the 1930s and 1969, trams ran along Beaudesert Road, thence along Ipswich Road to the City. The suburb continues to be well served by Brisbane Transport buses, namely the 116 Rocklea-Moorvale service, the 117 Acacia Ridge-City Valley Service, the 124 Sunnybank-City service, and the 125 Garden City-City Valley service. There is a zone border crossing at the Beaudesert Road shops, popularly known as Moorvale, for transport zones 2 and 3.

Education
Moorooka is serviced by two kindergartens and primary schools, the non-denominational Moorooka State School at Beaudesert Road, and the Roman Catholic St Brendan's at Hawtree Street. Moorooka State School is the oldest of the two, being founded in 1929, and hosts an annual Festival in July. Approximately 700 students attend the School, which features a strong multi-cultural community. Prominent recent headmaster includes Mr Leo Hearn.
Moorooka is also within close proximity to TAFE colleges and the Griffith University campuses.

Religion
Moorooka has two principal churches, the St Brendan's Catholic Church at Hawtree Street (Roman Catholic), and the Church of Christ at Pampas Street and Beaudesert Road. Both feature Sunday services.

Architecture
Many of the houses are pre-war Queenslanders (on posts, with simple one floor, wooden construction), with small apartment blocks scattered through the suburb. As with many older suburbs of Brisbane, Moorooka is becoming gentrified, with many older homes now being either renovated and extended or replaced by more modern buildings. There are prime real estate areas on the top of hills, with views to the Great Dividing Range, over Archerfield in the south, Seventeen Mile Rocks to the west, Mount Coot-tha, St. Lucia and Indooroopilly to the north-west.

Shopping The principal Moorooka shopping district on Beaudesert Road, known as Moorvale, features over 100 businesses from take-aways to restaurants and coffee shops, discount stores, newsagents, dry cleaners, locksmiths, second hand and pawn shops, and a new range of businesses that serve the African community including food and groceries, hair salons, furniture shops, and halal butcheries.

Moorvale is also known for its extensive Woolworths Supermarket, at the northern end of the shopping district, which was opened in 1972 and was the largest Woolworths in Queensland at the time.

On the South end of Moorooka near the AFL club & Moorooka State Primary School located off Beaudesert Road you have Pizza Hut & Shear Image Hair & Toni's Beauty.

Moorooka also boasts being close to the new State Tennis Centre at Tennyson, just 3 kilometres away.

www.google.com.au, www.moorookalinks.com.au

I would love to see anyone's old photos of Moorooka, if you have any drop me a line.