The name Dugandan is believed to be a Ugarapul word dugai/tugai meaning mountain spur place.[2][3] Originally the name was used for a large pastoral run established in 1884, covering a much larger area than the current locality from Boonah to Mount Joyce. As a result, the name Dugandan was used for the present day town of Boonah until the 1880s when it acquired its present name.[6]
In January 1861, a native police detachment led by Lieutenant Frederick Walker was dispatched to Dugandan Scrub, to the south of the present town, to "disperse" the local aboriginals who were camped in the area. This was in response to a request from the settler John Hardie. When the native police ambushed their camp during the night, at least two were killed,[7] with possibly as many as 40 being killed.[8]
The Dugandan Provisional School which opened in 1878 was located in (present day) Boonah. This school was renamed Boonah State School in 1895.[9]
In 1886 Carl Stumer erected the Dugandan General Store. It was raised following flooding in 1887. In 1913 it was renovated and became the Dugandan Hotel. There was an earlier hotel in Boonah called the Dugandan Hotel but it was not operating in 1913.[10]
Dugandan Post Office opened on 11 September 1887 (a receiving office had been open from 1881) and closed in 1929.[16]
In 1882, the Primitive Methodist Church congregation had grown too large to continue to use the Provisional School.[17] Thomas Hardcastle donated 1 acre (0.40 ha) of land for a church on Old Mount Alford Road near the former Dugandan Bridge.[18] There was a ceremonial cutting of the first sod on Saturday 23 December 1882 by Miss Jessie Hardcastle.[19][20] The church was 22 by 14 feet (6.7 by 4.3 m) and built by George Beverley and T. Austin. It was officially opened on 4 November 1883.[21] In 1892 concerns about flooding led to fundraising to relocate the church to the southern end of High Street in Boonah (now the location of the manse).[when?][22][23][24]
The Trinity Lutheran church opened on 23 April 1889.[25]
In the 2016 census, the locality of Dugandan had a population of 593 people. The locality contains 254 households, in which 47.7% of the population are males and 52.3% of the population are females with a median age of 45, 7 years above the national average. The average weekly household income is $1,125, $313 below the national average.[28]
In the 2021 census, the locality of Dugandan had a population of 602 people.[1]
237 Boonah-Rathdowney Road: Trinity Lutheran Church and Cemetery[25]
Education
There are no schools in Dugandan. The nearest government primary schools are Boonah State School in neighbouring Boonah to the north and Mount Alford State School in Mount Alford to the south-west. The nearest government secondary school is Boonah State High School in Boonah.[27]
^"Boonah". Queensland Places. Centre for the Government of Queensland, University of Queensland. Archived from the original on 27 April 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
^"The Native Police". The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser. Vol. XVIII, no. 1974. Maitland. 12 January 1861. p. 7. Retrieved 17 January 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Hardie's Station massacre". c21ch.newcastle.edu.au. Centre for 21st Century Humanities, University of Newcastle. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
^"IPSWICH". The Brisbane Courier. Vol. XXXVII, no. 7, 789. Queensland, Australia. 29 December 1882. p. 5. Archived from the original on 22 December 2020. Retrieved 3 October 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
^Blake, Thom. "Trinity Lutheran Church". Queensland religious places database. Archived from the original on 15 January 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2022.