Community & Business
3 July, 2025
Clifton’s 150th celebration a real hit
For an event that was organised in a relatively short time, Saturday’s celebration of the 150th anniversary of the first land sale in the town of Clifton was a huge success with hundreds of locals and visitors turning out at the Clifton Museum.
Members and volunteers from the Clifton and District Historical Society undertook the organisation of the celebration and produced a worthy effort in less than three months.
As expected there was big interest from residents of the Clifton district but the event also attracted past residents and visitors from a wide area stretching from Chinchilla to Brisbane.
While it was difficult to assess the attendance, it is estimated that close to 800 people visited during the day.
Ahead of the birthday cake being cut Historical Society President Kath Brown welcomed the crowd and introduced Toowoomba Region Mayor Geoff McDonald to open the event.
Mayor McDonald said there was nothing that made him more proud than seeing locals celebrating their history.
He pointed to the contribution the Clifton district has made and continues to make to food production.
The Mayor said food production is the heart and soul of Clifton and district.
He referred to research conducted by demographer Bernard Salt who predicts that the population of the world will increase from its present 8 billion to 10 billion over the next 50 years.
This will require 25 per cent growth in three key areas - food, energy and resources the Mayor said.
He said facilities and services that will continue to be needed as time progresses include schools, agricultural services, health services, libraries and community hubs and said despite AI, we will still need people.
“Clifton has it all,” he said.
“Clifton is in a beautiful place.”
The coming improvement to water supplies in this part of the Region was another aspect of development that will see an influx of people.
“Clifton is such a very special part of our Region,” Mayor McDonald said.
The Patron and Life Member of Clifton and District Historical Society, Graham Berry spoke of the early days in the creation of the Clifton Museum in the late 1980s.
Mr Berry praised the work of the Society in establishing the Museum and the ongoing development of the attraction.
To conclude the formal part of the day, Mr Berry joined Kath Brown and the Mayor to cut the cake.
