The land area comprises industrial and residential areas.[citation needed]
Inter war homes can be found on Northgate Hill—elevated land that rises west of the railway station; and post World War II real estate on "the flat"—the large arc of flat land that extends to Moreton Bay at Nudgee Beach with most of the housing stock being post-WWII.[citation needed]
History
The suburb's railway station was originally called North Coast Junction, as it was the junction where the North Coast railway line branched from the Sandgate railway line (later the Shorncliffe railway line). In 1890, the Queensland Railways Department renamed the station Northgate, being a coined word combining North from North Coast and gate from Sandgate.[4] The suburb is named after the railway station.[3]
The Northgate-Virginia School of Arts was opened on 20 January 1922 by Matthew Nathan, the Queensland Governor. It consisted of a public hall and a library.[5] It was taken over by the Brisbane City Council circa 1960 and became the Northgate-Virginia Municipal Library and held over 10,000 books. It ceased to be a library and returned to its former role as a public hall under the name Northgate Hall.[6]
In February 1949, it was announced that the name of the new railway station on the Sandgate line built to service the cannery would be Bindha, an Aboriginal word meaning food.[14]
Northgate State School opened on 27 January 1959.[15][18]
St John's Catholic Church was built beside St John's School. Archbishop Duhig laid the foundation stone on 13 May 1962. The completed church was opened on Sunday 5 August 1962 by Archbishop Patrick O'Donnell who dedicated the church as a war memorial for the Royal Australian Navy.[16][17]
Demographics
In the 2011 census, Northgate had a population of 4,304 people; 49.7% female and 50.3% male. The median age of the Northgate population was 34 years of age, 3 years below the Australian median. Children under 15 years made up 16.9% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 9.6% of the population. 72.1% of people living in Northgate were born in Australia, compared to the national average of 69.8%; the next most common countries of birth were New Zealand 4.8%, England 3.1%, India 3%, Philippines 1.1%, China 1.1%. 82.9% of people spoke only English at home; the next most popular languages were 2% Punjabi, 0.8% Hindi, 0.7% Cantonese, 0.7% Mandarin, 0.6% Tagalog.[19]
In the 2016 census, Northgate had a population of 4,568 people.[20]
In the 2021 census, Northgate had a population of 4,876 people.[1]
Northgate holds the Golden Circle processing plant, which is on Earnshaw Road (27°23′05″S153°04′22″E / 27.3847°S 153.0729°E / -27.3847; 153.0729 (Golden Circle cannery)). Golden Circle is 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) long and occupies 16.5 hectares (41 acres) with its factories processing all the Golden Circle foods which are found in stores all around Australia. The factory in Northgate once contained a café for visitors to come to and sample Golden Circle produced food. The café and factory outlet is now closed but there are two new ones in Capalaba to the east of Brisbane and in Morayfield to the north of Brisbane.[26]
^Kerr, John (1990). Triumph of narrow gauge : a history of Queensland Railways. Boolarong Publications. p. 72. ISBN978-0-86439-102-5.
^"Progressive Northgate". The Telegraph. Queensland, Australia. 21 January 1922. p. 10 (SECOND EDITION). Archived from the original on 15 September 2020. Retrieved 16 April 2020 – via Trove.
^Universal Business Directories (Aust.) Pty. Ltd (1990). UBD street directory. Brisbane. Universal Business Directories (Australia). p. 15. Archived from the original on 24 August 2020. Retrieved 15 September 2020. {{cite book}}: |author1= has generic name (help)