In 1877, were resumed from the Fassifern pastoral run and offered for selection on 19 April 1877. By 1890 a small town had developed. The town was once known as Fassifern Scrub and then Engelsburg after an early settler, storekeeper August Engels. The town has a very rich German history, having been established "almost exclusively" by German settlers, reflected today in the many Anglo-German road and street names as well as the many local German settler descendant surnames. The name changed to Kalbar because of anti-German sentiment in 1916 during World War I, though only first applied to the railway station. The Engelsberg School of Arts did not change to the Kalbar School of Arts until July 1918. The Mount Edwards railway line reached the town in 1916. Kalbar State School opened in 1879. Fassifern Scrub Privisional School opened on 3 February 1879. On 4 September 1879 it was renamed Engelsburg State School. Having previously operated in the Baptist Church, the school moved to Edward Street on 28 September 1885. On 24 January 1955, the school relocated to the Kalbar School of Arts while modern school buildings were being constructed in a new site on George Street. On 24 June 1955, the school moved into the new George Street buildings. On 19 April 1958 an official opening of new school site in George Street was held. On 27 August 1979 the school was renamed Kalbar State School. In 2007 some of the school buildings were invaded by a colony of microbats which lived in the walls and roofs and constituted a health hazard to staff and students as the bats can transmit Australian bat lyssavirus. The staff and students in the affected buildings were relocated into demountable buildings and the bat-infested buildings were demolished. A "bat haven" was established on the school grounds to provide an alternative home for the bat colony. New bat-proof buildings were opened in July 2010. Engelsburg Post Office opened on 7 July 1897 and was renamed Kalbar in 1916. During the 1899 referendum to decide if Australia should become a federation, Kalbar registered the highest No vote of any town in Queensland. In 1920, the Kalbar School of Arts hall and half the businesses in town were destroyed by fire. From 1961 to 1990, Kalbar held a large annual celebration, the Fassifern Potato Festival. The event included a street parade with motorised floats culminating at the show grounds and continuation of festivities. Some artifacts from the festival can be found at the Templin Historical Museum. Harvest Festivals organised by the local Salvation Army church extended back to the 1920s.
Kalbar State School is a government primary school for boys and girls at George Street. In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 202 students with 21 teachers and 14 non-teaching staff. It includes a special education program.
Events
The annual agricultural show is held in June. Kalbar Country Day is a festival which is held in late October annually since 1991.
Demographics
Kalbar has a population of 1093 at the. The locality contains 453 households, in which 47.8% of the population are males and 52.2% of the population are females with a median age of 41, 3 years above the national average. The average weekly household income is $1,133, $305 below the national average. 4.8% of Kalbar's population is either of Aborigional or Torres Strait Islander descent. 57.3% of the population aged 15 or over is either registered or de facto married, while 42.7% of the population is not married. 28.7% of the population is currently attending some form of a compulsory education. The most common nominated ancestries were Australian, English and German, while the most common country of birth was Australia, and the most commonly spoken language at home was English. The most common nominated religions were No religion, Catholic and Anglican. The most common occupation was a labourer and the majority/plurality of residents worked 40 or more hours per week.
