area occurred because James Street was developing as the main commercial street, the route used by people travelling to Ipswich or south and west. The site was reserved for a National School in Toowoomba is the present-day site at the rear of the existing campus now occupied by the Toowoomba South State School Hall, and the basketball and tennis courts (the corner of Lawrence and Ruthven Streets). The site of the current buildings was the hospital. The name "Toowoomba" had gradually taken over from "The Swamp" by 1857 and the settlement continued to expand. At the time of its incorporation into a municipality (the Borough of Toowoomba) in November 1860, Toowoomba was on the way to supplanting Drayton as the principal service centre for the upper Darling Downs. Prior to 1859, Toowoomba's population was around 1500. Five years later this figure had doubled. The rapid economic and social development of Toowoomba in the 1860s was influenced by local residents who strongly promoted the prospects of the town, and political representatives who successfully lobbied for government funding for civic improvements. By 1861 local residents were agitating for the establishment of a government school. Colonial governments played an important role in the provision of formal education. In 1848 (before the separation of Queensland in 1859) the New South Wales Government established National Schools. This was continued by the Queensland Government after the colony's creation in 1859. The Education Act 1860 established the Queensland Board of General Education and began to standardise curriculum, teacher training and facilities. The Education Act 1875 provided a number of key initiatives for primary education; it was to be free, compulsory and secular. The Department of Public Instruction was established to administer the Act. This move standardised the provision of education and, despite difficulties, colonial educators achieved a remarkable feat in bringing basic literacy to most Queensland children by 1900. The provision of schools was considered an essential step in the development of early Queensland communities. The formal education of Queensland children was seen as integral to the success of a town, the colony and the nation. Land and construction labour was often donated by the local people and schools frequently became a major focus within the community as a place symbolising progress, for social interaction, and as a source of pride. Also, the development and maintenance of schools frequently involved donations and work by teachers, parents, and