It was named for Booyoolie Station, the homestead for which was located immediately west of the present township of Gladstone.

It may have been named for an indigenous phrase meaning "boiling up smoke cloud" but this supposed etymology lacks contemporary corroboration.

Official sources suggest the name was a settler invention formed from the words "beau ewe lea".

[1][4] The District Council of Booyoolie was established at Laura in 1876, bringing local government to the entire hundred.

In 1988, local governance of the hundred was brought back under a single body with the creation of the District Council of Rocky River.