Old Carbrook State School

Old Carbrook State School is a heritage-listed former state school at 597-605 Beenleigh-Redland Bay Road, Carbrook, City of Logan, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1877 to 1977. It is also known as Gramzow Provisional School. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.HistoryThe former Carbrook State School, now a high-set timber and iron building, was originally named Gramzow Provisional School when constructed in 1877.The area around Carbrook was originally called the Logan District after Captain Patrick Logan who discovered the Logan River in 1826. The area was logged by timber getters before selectors began arriving in the 1860s. The first selector in the area was Herman Meissner who took up his selection in April 1868. The mainly German immigrants who settled in the Carbrook area named the settlement Gramzow after the town Gramzow in Germany, and followed agricultural pursuits including the growing and milling of sugar cane and arrowroot. Later, the area supported dairying which gave way to bananas and a variety of small crops.In 1876, farmers John Sommer, Charles Habermann, August Fischer and James Graham, formed a committee representing the community and requested the Department of Public Instruction to establish a State School at Gramzow. The request was refused as there were insufficient student numbers to justify the establishment of a State School, but the Department suggested that the best way will be to begin with a Provisional School at Gramzow, and when the attendance exceeds thirty, a residence can be added. A Provisional School was described as being one in which temporary provision is made for the primary instruction of children and not being a State school. These schools were established where an average attendance of between 12 and 30 pupils could be maintained and where the local promoters could provide a suitable building at their own expense. These buildings could be built on private land, Crown land or on land vested in the Minister. When the average attendance of the school rose to more than 30, the school committee was expected to raise the requisite one-fifth local contribution towards the cost of a State school.