Lowood View map of town area

Population 1700

Name

Originally, people living in the Lowood district referred to the area loosely as The Scrub. The first school there was the Upper Tarampa State School, which opened on 29th June, 1881. Because of confusion with the Tarampa school the name was changed to 'Cairnhill State School' at the suggestion of the teacher, P. Weehrenquist.

The first section of the Brisbane Valley branch railway (30 km) was opened on 16th June 1884 in the vicinity of the Cairnhill school. The Railways Department gave the name Lowood to the new terminus and a receiving office known as Lowood opened about the same time. Lowood was coined from the words 'low wood' and referred to the low brigalow scrub in the neighbourhood, which contrasted with the taller trees in the adjoining forest.

The town of Lowood was not laid out by Government surveyors, but grew from the subdivision of freehold land around the new railway station, from which it took its name. The name of the State School was changed to 'Lowood' on October, 1891.