According to local knowledge, the name
Kin Kin is derived from the Aboriginal term meaning "plenty plenty, black ants". In particular, it is believed to have referred to a species of small black ants which was prevalent in the area.
Kin Kin was probably within the area frequented by the Dulingbara Aboriginal group, part of the Kabi Kabi language group.
From as early as 1864, timber-getters, in search of cedar, penetrated the scrubs and areas along the creeks in the Kin Kin district. In 1904, after a track had been cut over the range, a road was constructed. By 1910 settlement had extended over much of the valley, in the Kin Kin Junction, Moran Group and Wahpunga areas. Each of these areas had, in turn, been successful in securing a school.
In the 1960s, bananas, pineapples, small crops, bean growing and dairying constituted the chief industries. In the 1990s, industries included macadamia nuts, ginger and, to a lesser extent, fruit and vegetable growing and dairying.
The pattern of early settlement of Kin Kin had a direct bearing on the establishment of the schools in the district. Four schools were opened to serve their respective localities: Kin Kin Junction (1909), Moran Group (1910), Wahpunga (1910) and Kin Kin (1916). The establishment and maintenance of these schools was, however, no easy feat for their communities. Changes in demography, industry and improved transport within the district resulted in the closures of three of the original four schools.
Kin Kin State School, the surviving school, ironically the last to be established, now serves a vastly different community from that which was the home of the early pioneers.
(Kin Kin Schools Past and Present, by J.D. Dale, published in 1991)
Kin Kin State School celebrated their Centenary
on Saturday, 22nd October, 2016.