In 2014, Hendra State School celebrated the 150th anniversary of our school. The following is an excerpt of the history of Hendra State School that has appeared on previous websites.
The History of Hendra State School
There were fewer than a score of State Schools in operation when, on 1 August 1864, the Eagle Farm School was opened with an enrolment of 47 increasing to 89 by the end of the year, on land given by Mr Westaway.
Several parents had each donated 20 pounds towards the cost of the well-ventilated building which was described by the school inspector as being “one of the handsomest and most commodious schools in the colony.” Gerler Road reminds us of one of the donors, the father of Charles Gerler, the first pupil enrolled. Most of the children were of German descent and spoke English imperfectly, but they soon made satisfactory progress.
The building, costing 600 pounds, a very large amount for those days, must have been constructed of the finest timber for half of the building, not altered greatly during the 60 years it was a school, served the community as the Progress Hall in Banister Park.
Name change for Eagle Farm
After being known as Eagle Farm for forty-four years, the school, early in 1908, was renamed the Hendra State School as a result of an application by the committee.
Apparently some of the school mail was being wrongly forwarded to the Eagle Farm Post Office thus causing inconvenience. Moreover, the parents regarded the name Eagle Farm as a misnomer and claimed it had outlived its usefulness through suburban development, the school being nearer to Hendra than to Eagle Farm. The name Hendra had been in use for the railway station for a generation.