Ipswich

The area was first explored by European colonists in 1826, when Captain Patrick Logan, commandant of the Moreton Bay penal colony, sailed along the river and discovered large deposits of limestone and other minerals. In 1827, the first convicts and overseers arrived to mine the area, and the town that built around this industry became known as Limestone, and is remembered by one of the main streets through the city centre named Limestone Street to this day. In 1843, the settlement officially became known as Ipswich, making Ipswich the oldest provincial city in Queensland.

Mining of coal and other valuable minerals continued well into the 20th century, and it is cynically (if somewhat accurately) said by locals that the reason many of the outlying suburbs are so hilly is because the area was used as a dumping ground for waste originating from the mines. Ipswich has suffered somewhat from this establishment as a mining city, but recent efforts have made strides in improving its reputation.

Ipswich was proclaimed as a municipality on March 2, 1860, and became a city in 1904.