Maroon State School and Maroon War Memorial is a heritage-listed state school and war memorial at 2772 Boonah Rathdowney Road, Maroon, Scenic Rim Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1910. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 9 October 2015.
History
Maroon State School, located south of Boonah, near Queensland's border with New South Wales, opened in 1891 as Maroon Provisional School, soon after closer settlement commenced in the district. The school was transferred to Department of Public Instruction ownership in 1898 and became Maroon State School in 1909. A playshed was added in 1910, and a teacher's residence was constructed in 1937. The original teaching building was replaced with a small timber school building in 1938. The school buildings are set amongst mature trees, and the district's 1920 war memorial stands at the front (northeast corner) of the school grounds. The result is a picturesque view from the road, past the war memorial to the school, with Mount Maroon as the backdrop. The school has been in continuous operation since establishment and has been a focus for the local community as a place for important social and cultural activity.
European occupation of the Maroon district commenced in the 1840s. Maroon Station, initially called Melcombe, was taken up by William O'Grady Haly in 1843, and the lease was eventually obtained by Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior, well-known pastoralist and politician, in 1864. Some local farming began in 1870, but closer settlement began in earnest from 1887, the year the Fassifern Railway was extended to Dugandan, just south of Boonah. Blocks of were taken up to the south and east of Maroon Station. Local farming included dairying, pig rearing, and crops (including lucerne, maize and cotton), and timber-getting was also a local industry. In the locality of Maroon, two shops existed by 1887, a creamery (later a cheese factory until the 1900-1902 drought) was opened in the mid-1890s, and a School of Arts was built in 1903–04. A Church of England was dedicated in 1907, and a Methodist church in 1914. Early local government was provided by the Goolman Divisional Board, (1879), then the Goolman Shire Council (1903) which became Boonah Shire Council in 1937.
Closer settlement at Maroon was soon followed by calls for a local school. The establishment of schools was considered an essential step in the development of early communities and integral to their success. Locals often donated land and labour for a school's construction and the school community contributed to maintenance and development. Schools became a community focus, a symbol of progress, and a source of pride, with enduring connections formed with past pupils, parents, and teachers. The inclusion of war memorials and community halls reinforced these connections and provided a venue for a wide range of community events in schools across Queensland. A provisional school could be opened with as few as 15 (later 12) pupils. The Board of General Education gave financial assistance to local committees to set up and maintain these schools. The local committee provided a building and found a teacher, and the Board paid the teacher's salary relative to the number of pupils.
To help ensure consistency and economy, the Queensland Government developed standard plans for its school buildings. From the 1860s until the 1960s, Queensland school buildings were predominantly timber-framed, an easy and cost-effective approach that also enabled the government to provide facilities in remote areas. Standard designs were continually refined in response to changing needs and educational philosophy and Queensland school buildings were particularly innovative in climate control, lighting, and ventilation. Standardisation produced distinctly similar schools across Queensland with complexes of typical components.
In Maroon, a provisional school was opened in 1891 due to the efforts of the local community. A school building committee was elected at a meeting on 31 January 1891, and a written application for a provisional school was made in late May, when the building was almost finished. Materials were donated by committee members; and the school, built with volunteer labour, was furnished and equipped by 30 May, and opened on 15 July 1891, at no cost to the government. The building was also used by the community for public meetings, religious services and music lessons, and as a library (before the School of Arts opened).