Tamrookum, Queensland


Tamrookum is a rural locality in the Scenic Rim Region, Queensland, Australia. In the, Tamrookum had a population of 91 people.

Geography

The Mount Lindesay Highway traverses Tamrookum from north to south and forms part of the north-west boundary. The Logan River forms its eastern boundary.
The Sydney–Brisbane rail corridor also passes through the locality from north to south to the west of the highway.
A series of vegetated hills in the west rises to elevations of up to.
In the east adjacent to the river the predominate land use is irrigated cropping and irrigated pasture for grazing. In the west the principal land use is graving on native vegetation.

History

The name Tamrookum is believed to be a corruption of the Aboriginal words dhan/buragun meaning place of boomerangs.
The first Tamrookum squatter was John Campbell and the lessee from 1848 was William Barker. In 1872 he paid for portion 343 and was issued with a Deed of Grant for which included the homestead and church site.
Pastoralist John Collins of Mundoolun acquired the land in 1878 and in 1879 his eldest son Robert Martin Collins took up residence after his marriage to Arabella Smyth. RM Collins became the owner in 1886.
RM Collins and his brothers established vast pastoral interests in Queensland and the Northern Territory. He was a founding partner in the North Australian Pastoral Company and a pioneer of the frozen meat industry. He was a parliamentarian from 1896 to 1913 and was responsible for the establishment of Lamington National Park, proclaimed in 1915 after his death.
Tamrookum State School opened on 31 January 1939.
In October 1944, a meeting of local residents decided to construct memorial hall. However, the project took some years and the Tamrookum Memorial Hall finally opened on 5 April 1952.
In the, Tamrookum and surrounds had a population of 266 people.

Heritage listings

Tamrookum has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
Tamrookum State School is a government primary school for boys and girls at 9019 Mount Lindesay Highway. In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 141 students with 15 teachers and 12 non-teaching staff. There is no secondary school in Tamrookum; the nearest is in Beaudesert.

Roadhouse and General Store

Tamrookum has a Roadhouse and General Store, located on the eastern side of the Mount Lindsay Highway.