The locality of Calen is loosely bounded by One Mile Creek to the south and Blackrock Creek to the north. The land is mostly flat and used for sugar cane farming, apart from some undeveloped mountains across the western boundary of the locality and some small undeveloped hill land in the east which is on the Queensland coast.[4]
The Bruce Highway passes from the south-east to the north-west of the locality. The North Coast railway line runs immediately north and parallel to the highway.[4]
A second town of Kolijo is located on the south-eastern edge of the locality, again with the highway and railway passing through it. The former Kolijo railway station is located in the town (20°54′16″S148°46′57″E / 20.9044°S 148.7825°E / -20.9044; 148.7825 (Kolijo railway station)).[6] Calen and Kolijo are separated by St Helens Creek, which might explain the development of two towns less than 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) apart.[4][7]
The town of Calen takes its name from the Calen railway station which was named on 8 February 1924 by the Queensland Railway Department, reportedly being an Aboriginal name meaning cloud.[9]
Calen State School opened on 24 February 1925 under head teacher Honoria Mary Doherty. In 1963, it expanded to offering secondary schooling (8-10). In 1991, it further expanded to offer secondary years 11 and 12. On 13 December 2003, it was renamed Calen District State College.[10][11][12]
William Pratt Memorial Church was officially opened on Saturday 23 August 1930; it was a combined Presbyterian and Methodist Church.[16] It is now Calen Uniting Church.[17] William Pratt was a pioneer sugarcane grower in the Calen area. He served on the Pioneer Shire Council and was a director of the Farleigh sugar mill.[18][19]
^"CALEN". Daily Mercury. Vol. 64, no. 202. Queensland, Australia. 26 August 1930. p. 11. Archived from the original on 29 August 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"CALEN TOWNSHIP". Daily Mercury. Vol. 64, no. 202. Queensland, Australia. 26 August 1930. p. 5. Archived from the original on 29 August 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"OBITUARY". Daily Mercury. Vol. 63, no. 198. Queensland, Australia. 23 August 1929. p. 9. Archived from the original on 29 August 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^Premier Postal History. "Post Office List". Premier Postal Auctions. Archived from the original on 15 May 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
Dunn, Isabel; Dunn, Alan, (author.); Dunn, Joanne, (editor.) (25 June 2016), We, Us & Co. : the Pratt family and pioneers of St Helens : an account of the development of Calen (published 2016), ISBN978-0-9945720-0-4{{citation}}: |author2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Calen State School : 1925 - 2000, Calen State School, 2000 — includes Cameron's Pocket State School, Silent Grove State School, Mount Ossa State School, and Mount Pelion State School.