[1] It is a rapidly developing rural township located within the urban footprint of the South East Queensland Regional Plan 2009–2031.

[citation needed] Just upstream from Fernvale is a significant archaeological site known as Platypus Rockshelter, a double chambered weathered cavity in conglomerate cliff, now largely inundated by Wivenhoe Dam.

Excavation recovered thousands of stone artifacts, associated with large amounts of shellfish (predominantly freshwater mussel), mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian and fish bones.

When the embargo was lifted in 1842, the first Europeans to select land and settle in the Fernvale area were Edmund Blucher Uhr and his brother, whose river frontage run they called Fernie Lawn.

[6] This large, unfenced holding which included the area now known as Fernvale was purchased from the Uhr brothers by the North family early in 1843.

Wivenhoe, the adjoining station higher up the Brisbane River, was then taken up by Edmund Blucher Uhr and J. S. Ferriter until it too was bought by the North family in 1849.

The future township of Fernvale became a known stop for bullock wagons and cattle drovers, who frequently camped by the river overnight before crossing en route to the rapidly growing timber and grazing areas to the north.

[8] When New South Wales passed the Agricultural Reserves Act 1861 and a new wave of settlers moved into the area, Fernie Lawn was divided into smaller selections, with land for sale at £1 per acre and cultivation and fencing to be carried out by the purchaser.

Farmers engaged in mixed cropping and dairying, and cotton was widely grown in the area in response to the world shortage caused by the American Civil War.

[12] The old blacksmith, the tennis court (made by hand from termites nests and river water), the first bakery, Cribb and Foote’s store, the earliest churches, have all gone.

[citation needed] The first Methodist church in the Brisbane Valley was built at Fernvale in 1872, on land close to the river, donated by Emmanuel Denman.

The 1894 church and hall were officially opened on 2 March 2019 by Shayne Neumann, Federal Member for Blair, as the Fernvale Lions Centre.

[citation needed] In 1910, ten acres of the original eighty were fenced in, and in 1915, the old Harris Brothers store no longer being safe, a new school was built and the old building sold and removed.

In those early days, when isolation meant that news from overseas was anxiously awaited, mail was brought by bullock team, and later by horse-drawn coach.

There was a time when these yards buzzed with horse-drawn carts and bullock wagons bringing in the produce of the surrounding farms to be loaded on the trains for transport to the markets of Ipswich and Brisbane.

[citation needed]The Brisbane River valley has always been troubled by alternating drought and flood, and Fernvale and Wivenhoe Pocket have several times been inundated, with many homes and buildings washed away.

[23] It closed in 1934 and in 1936 the building was sold to the Queensland Government for £50 and it was relocated to Somerset Dam,[24] where, after renovating and re-roofing, it was dedicated once again as St Mark's Anglican Church on 30 August 1936 by Archbishop William Wand.

Town sports days brought people in from outlying districts, and the Fernvale cricket, tennis and football teams were keenly followed.

During the depression years dances and fund raising evenings were run by local personality Mr August Stumer Following World War II a shortage of men and materials led to a drift away from the area.

[citation needed] In 2011, the town was once again badly affected by floods, with one hundred and twelve homes inundated in Fernvale and twenty-five in Vernor.

[40] Extra-curricular activities include Wakkirri drama group, school choir, chess club and an instrumental band.

[citation needed] The Fernvale Futures Complex incorporates an accredited tourist information centre staffed by a team of volunteers and has facilities for meetings and conferences, with smaller rooms for visiting specialists and counselling.

The complex also serves the community in such diverse ways as providing public access to computers and printing services, meeting rooms for social groups, training courses, workshops and exhibitions.

The Old Fernvale Bakery is located on the Brisbane Valley highway and has become a local landmark offering a selection of over 170 different varieties of pies.

[citation needed] An annual campdraft is held every year in March at the Fernvale Showgrounds (Colin Powell Reserve).

[citation needed] Each year in July around 800 people assemble in the park to take part in the Fernvale-Lowood Rail Trail Fun Run to raise funds for Diabetes Queensland.

Acacia concurrens, Moreton Bay Ash, Narrow-leaved Ironbark and spotted gum are common, Callistemon viminalis abounds along the river banks.

[citation needed] Common birds include corella, galah, Australian king parrot, pale-headed rosella, rainbow and scaly-breasted lorikeet, sulphur-crested cockatoo, glossy black cockatoo, blue-faced and scarlet honeyeater, noisy miner, Indian mynah, masked lapwing, wood duck, whistling ducks, wedge-tailed eagle, osprey, blue fairy wren, red-backed fairywren, double-barred finch, common-bronzewing pigeon, crested pigeon, rainbow bee-eater, channel-billed cuckoo (summer), koel (summer).