Helidon, Queensland

Helidon is a town and locality in the Lockyer Valley region of southeast Queensland, Australia. Helidon is located on the Warrego Highway, west of the state capital, Brisbane, and east of Toowoomba. The town had a population of 1,053 at the 2011 census.Helidon is known in Queensland for its high quality sandstone, used extensively in private and public buildings in the state and elsewhere, including Brisbane City Hall, Brisbane Treasury Building, University of Queensland, and sought after internationally for its quality, especially in China. Helidon is also the location of a natural mineral spring whose products were sold by the Helidon Spa Water Company, now known as Kirks.GeographyThe Toowoomba Second Range Crossing will join the Warrego Highway at Helidon and is expected to open in 2018. Parts of the hilly, undeveloped north of Helidon have been protected within Lockyer National Park.HistoryThe Helidon district is called by Aboriginal inhabitants "Yabarba", the name of the Curriejung, and the nearby spring is known as "Woonar-rajimmi", the place "where the clouds fell down!"