Industry in the shire consisted of beef cattle, sugar, timber and light industry servicing Maryborough.
History
Woocoo was proclaimed a shire under the Local Authorities Act 1902 on 4 December 1914, with its centre of administration at
Brooweena. It had previously been part of the
Shire of Tiaro, and also included parts of the Shires of
Antigua and
Howard. The shire was named for Mount Woocoo, which itself was probably named for the local
Aboriginal word for "
echidna". It held its first meeting on 30 January 1915.
Brooweena War Memorial, 2008
In 1922, the residents of the
Woocoo Shire erected a war memorial outside St Mary's Church of England on the Maryborough-Biggenden Road in
Teebar (now within
Boompa). The
Woocoo Shire War Memorial was unveiled on Saturday 6 January 1923 by Major-General
Thomas William Glasgow.[2] In 1992 the memorial was relocated to the Woocoo Historical Museum in
Brooweena due to concerns about vandalism and is now known as the
Brooweena War Memorial.[3][4]
On 27 March 1976, the Shire of Woocoo grew by 1,269.00 square kilometres (489.96 sq mi) when the Shire of Burrum was renamed
Shire of Hervey Bay and recast as a local government area centred on the
Hervey Bay urban area. The Local Government (Maryborough and Woocoo) Regulation 1993, which took effect on 31 March 1994, resulted in
Maryborough's annexation of about 700 square kilometres (270 sq mi) of Woocoo's area. At this time, Woocoo was resubdivided into three divisions each electing two councillors.
1927-1929: W C Mathison [Maryborough Chronicle received from State Library of Queensland ref. ASK65230 rec'd 11/07/2019]
1930-1935: George Smyth Mant [information in the Maryborough Chronicle received from State Library of Queensland ref. ASK65230 rec'd 11/07/2019]
1936-1948: J C "Cliff" Irons [information in the Maryborough Chronicle received from State Library of Queensland ref. ASK65230 rec'd 11/07/2019]
1949-1955: Charles Ronald Sutton "Ron" Smith [6][information in the Maryborough Chronicle received from State Library of Queensland (also personal family history - my uncle)]
^
abcdHarvey, Len; Woocoo Historical Society (1988), Pioneers and progress : a history of division one Shire of Woocoo, Queensland, Woocoo Historical Society,
ISBN978-0-7316-4362-2
^Harvey, Len; Woocoo Historical Society (1988). Pioneers and progress : a history of division one Shire of Woocoo, Queensland. Woocoo Historical Society. p. 59.
ISBN978-0-7316-4362-2.