Welcome to Walloon!
This small town was one of the original stations on the Ipswich to Grandchester railway (1865), and when the line began operation the small settlement opened a private (Catholic) school which enrolled 41 children.
In 1877 poor quality coal was found in Guilfoyle Gully, a 1km north of the Walloon railway station, an event coinciding with the opening of the Walloon Hotel and a government school. Better coal was found 100m east of the gully in 1881, and a tramway was constructed to convey the coal to the station. Later in the 1880s a larger deposit, the Caledonian colliery, was opened about 3km west of Walloon, and mining continued until 1960.
In addition to coal there was mixed farming and dairying, and along with other towns such as Marburg and Purga, Walloon had a small butter factory. The township, however, was overshadowed commercially by Rosewood and West Ipswich, and Pugh's Queensland Directory (1925) recorded it as having only the hotel, a butcher, a fuel merchant and a tanner. The old school, however, was replaced in 1935 and became a CWA hall.
In the 1980s Walloon changed to a rural/residential outer suburb of Ipswich, and in 1993 an electric train service was started for quicker commuting.
In celebration of this quaint, beautiful little town - which is also part of the Cobb & Co Tourist Drive - a cache has been placed near the historic Walloon Hotel.