Aspley (4034)
13 km north of Brisbane city, Aspley (4034) is situated adjacent Cabbage Tree Creek on flat land. Several of its major roads are the remnants of routes that settlers took after 1842 as they followed indigenous tracks to explore land north of Brisbane. In 1857 land in this area began to be sold for farming. Initially land was sold as large acreage allotments but after 1859, land began to be subdivided into smaller parcels, particularly that to the west of Aspley. When gold was found in Gympie in 1867, a major road was then constructed through Aspley to link Brisbane directly to the goldfields in the north with the Royal Exchange Hotel built in 1925 serving as a Cobb & Co passenger pick-up, horse interchange and general store. The Aspley hotel was then built in 1934 as a second hotel to support the Exchange.
From the 1870s to 1890s a vineyard was established in what formally became known as Aspley in 1897. Although initially a farming area, several supporting industries also flourished. In the late 1800s until1932, John Booth’s bone and sawmill was operational. Hutton’s meat processing plant in an adjoining suburb was a major source of side employment for farmers. Slaughter houses were also opened and a blacksmith was open for business until the 1920s. Post World War I and into the 1930s, saw a new wave of businesses being established in Aspley including the Griffiths Sweet factory, Hedges Dripping factory and a brickworks. The first school was opened in 1890 and by the 1960s the rapid growth in population in the area necessitated the establishment of some further five schools through the 1960s to 1970s.
In 1984 a large scale retail outlet and one of the first of its kind in Brisbane, the Aspley Hypermarket was built by a South African company attracting shoppers from Aspley and surrounding suburbs. It has since evolved into a shopping centre with various large retailers. Aspley also has several car dealerships, a homemaker centre, smaller shopping centres, restaurants and other commercial ventures all concentrated along its major intersecting roadway. Aspley was also the site of Brisbane’s first McDonalds and is now the Queensland headquarters. Aspley has a two well established football clubs with full facilities.
Initially transport to Aspley was provided by horse drawn coaches but today Aspley is at the hub of a large transport network including motorways connecting it south to Brisbane city and north to the Sunshine Coast as well as major arterial roads to surrounding suburbs. Aspley is well serviced mainly by regular buses to the city, although a railway station in an adjacent suburb makes it accessible to surrounding suburbs and the north coast.
In 2011 12,500 people lived in Aspley, their average age being 40 years. About 82% were born in Australia, England or New Zealand with a minority from India, Italy of Philippines so that although English is spoken primarily at home, Italian, Cantonese and Mandarin are also spoken as second languages.
