Oxley Creek - History

History

The creek was named after John Oxley who first surveyed it in December 1823. Initially Oxley had called the creek the Canoe Creek. This was in recognition of the first Europeans to reach the creek, Thomas Pamphlett, John Finnegan, Richard Parsons who reached the area after being shipwrecked on Stradbroke Island. At Oxley Creek the three found two canoe, one of which was used to cross the river and travel downstream. By 1925 it had become known as Oxley Creek.

As early as 1828, hoop pine was being felled near the mouth of Oxley Creek and in the area that is today known as Chelmer and Graceville. In 1852, the first public bridge over the creek was built for the dray road that led to Ipswich. By the 1860s timber cutters from Brisbane were entering the Oxley Creek flood plain. The creek and tributaries were described as being surrounded by dense scrubland with patches of sub-tropical rainforest.

In 2006, the Brisbane City Council established the Lord Mayor's Oxley Creek Catchment Taskforce in an effort to rehabilitate the creek and its catchment. In 2012, the taskforce was awarded 1st place in its category at the Healthy Waterways Awards.