The 2011 census determined a population of 287 for the state suburb of Lapoinya, which the locality of Preolenna forms part of.

In 1917 a tramway was constructed from Flowerdale to Preolenna to facilitate the coal mining operations, the track was later extended to Maweena in 1924.

Agricultural industry continued be the mainstay of local economic activity until the late 1990s, when the farms were gradually acquired by developers for eucalypt plantations.

The Meunna locality is now unpopulated, with the exception of the Tarkine Wilderness Lodge, after the farms were acquired and converted to forestry plantation in the late 1990s.

[3] The origins of the Rural Youth Organisation of Tasmania lie with the establishment of the Preolenna Calf Club in the early 1930s by the headmaster of the local school.