As you may remember from my first post my first home in Australia was at Cooinda Street, which in Aboriginal languages means happy place. Cooinda Street is located in Slacks Creek which is one of the oldest settled areas in Logan District which I would like to write a bit more about here.

Captain Patrick Logan

Logan City was named after Captain Patrick Logan who was a Commandant in Moreton Bay (1826-1830) and during his expedition in August 1826 discovered the Logan River, which he named Darling River after Governor Darling, yet Governor refused this honor and river was called Logan.

“Patrick Logan (1791-1830), soldier, was baptized on 15 November 1791 at Coldingham, Berwickshire, Scotland (…) Logan arrived in Sydney on 22 April 1825. Next November he was appointed by Governor Sir Thomas Brisbane to command of the convict settlement at Moreton Bay. (…) Logan led several expedition which added to geographical knowledge. In August 1826 he discovered the Logan River and next May the Albert River. In 1828, with Allan Cunningham and Charles Fraser, he succeeded in climbing Mount Barney, 4449 feet (1356 m), then the highest altitude attained by a white man in Australia. (…) Captain Logan is regarded by many historians as the true founder of Queensland, as he was an important explorer and the first to make any practical development. (…) He was, however, reputed to be cruelly harsh to the convicts, the settlement was in continuous unrest and uprisings were frequent under his command.” – Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 2, (MUP), 1967

Below is one of the plaques commemorating Captain Logan’s discoveries.

This plaque commemorates the crossing of the Logan River by explorers, Captain Patrick Logan, Allan Cunningham and Charles Fraser.
Publisher: Scenic Rim Regional Council; Date: 1978

Beginnings

Immediately after the Moreton Bay area was open for settlement in 1842, sheep and cattle farmers started inhabiting the land, especially the Logan Valley.²  The first leases of land in the Logan area were issued from 1849 and immigration was encouraged following the separation from NSW in 1859.¹

Mayes Cottage (Pleasant Place)
Publisher: Logan City Council; Date: 1887

Slacks Creek is one of the oldest settled areas in the Logan District and was named after John Slack whose property was named Mungaree (aboriginal “place of fishes”) near the Logan River.  He grazed cattle in the district from about 1845. John Slack died in 1861 and his son William remained in the area and married local girl Mary Anne Skyring. William Slack leased land along the current Pacific Highway in between Paradise Road and the Loganlea Road interchange. When the first bridge over the Brisbane River was constructed in 1865, this land was opened up for closer settlement and the rough bush track through Mt Gravatt to the Logan River was known as Slack’s track. ¹

At National Library of Australia’s Trove I found 2 interesting articles from 1866. The Brisbane Courier’s correspondent not only states that there was 160 families living in the area but also suggests that new road should follow the Slack’s track. The second correspondent from The Queenslander might have inspected smaller area as he counted 89 families plus almost dozen of German families. Interesting is his statement saying “In a few years a ride on a steamer up the Logan will be one of the finest in the colony (…)”

1866 ‘[No heading].’, The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 – 1933), 1 February, p. 3, viewed 23 July, 2015, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page53300

1866 ‘[No heading].’, The Queenslander (Brisbane, Qld. : 1866 – 1939), 8 September, p. 7, viewed 23 July, 2015, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page2458636

Logan Shire was created in 1978 and in 1981 was declared a city. With an area of 229 sq km Logan City extended from Ipswich in the west to Mount Cotton in the east, a distance of about 40 km. The river formed a substantial part of the city’s southern boundary. In 2008 Logan City was enlarged from 229 sq km to 913 sq km by absorbing part of Gold Coast City north of the Albert River (Beenleigh, Eagleby) and the northern urban part of Beaudesert Shire (Logan Village, Flagstone, Jimboomba, Cedar Grove).

Mayes Cottage and “Forest of Memories”

Logan City has many heritage places like Mayes Cottage (photo above) which is one of the oldest city’s buildings. John and Emily Mayes arrived to the area then known as Scrubby Creek in 1873 and built the cottage in 1887. Currently there is a museum and the building is almost exactly as it was over a hundred years ago.

Recently Logan City Council created Forest of Memories which is 15 large totems that greet visitors when they arrive in Logan Village and features significant people in the history of the area. The project was part of the Logan Village 150 year celebrations. You can read the stories about those 15 significant people here.

“Forest Of Memories” source: http://www.jimboombatimes.com.au/story/3132749/design-award-for-forest-of-memories/

Sources:

¹ www.logan.qld.gov.au/about-logan

² Starr, Joan & Starr, Joan 1988, Logan, the man, the river and the city, Southern Cross PR and Press Services, Tenterfield, N.S.W

³ Cranfield, Louis R.  Logan, Patrick (1791–1830), Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University,