HELIDON

Helidon is a small rural town located about 22km from Toowoomba, 70km from Ipswich and 106km from Brisbane.  The town is famous for sandstone and spa water.  The second claim to fame that Helidon has is it's sandstone that is quarried north of the town and has been used for the construction of many famous Brisbane buildings.  Some of these include Brisbane City Hall, Queensland Parliament House and the Great Court of the University of Queensland.  Famous Gold Coast buildings built with Helidon sandstone include Bond University and Jupiter's Casino.

HISTORY OF HELIDON

Helidon was named after the Helidon pastoral run which was taken up by a Sydney investor in 1841.  Helidon in Warwickshire or Hallidon Hill in Scotland may have been influences for the naming of the town.  The railway line between Ipswich and Toowoomba was opened in Helidon in 1866.  The pastoral run opened up for selections in the 1870s.  The primary school was opened in 1874.

The natural mineral waters of the spa at Helidon were well known by the local Aborigines long before it was first bottled by the Helidon Spa Company in the early 1880s.  Bottling was performed in South Brisbane after the water was transformed there in bulk.  Medals were gained at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition in London (1886) and the Melbourne International Exhibition (1888) by the spa water.  The first bore was sunk in the early 1900s by European settlers.  1915 brought about more medals at the San Francisco exhibition which led to the quality of the water being compared to the famous Baden Baden spa.  1926 marked the building of a spa pool. 

The 1930s brought about the opening of hydrotherapy baths.  The early hydrotherapy baths were used by Sister Elizabeth Kenny who was a pioneer in new treatments for poliomyelitis sufferers in the early twentieth century.  Since the 1940s the baths have been a barometer to measure public attitudes towards hydrotherapy treatments.  Usage has fluctuated up and down since this time.  The spa has enjoyed an extensive restoration in modern times and is undergoing somewhat of a revival in popularity.

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