Situated in Wulgurukaba country, the Townsville suburb of Aitkenvale is named after Thomas Aitken, who established a dairy farm around 1867. Aitken began subdividing the property during the 1880s, putting 440 quarter-acre residential allotments on the market in 1885.
The area was a significant military zone during World War II, with a 450-bed medical facility operated by the US Army's 13th Station Hospital on the corner of Hatchett Street and Ross River Road and an RAAF airstrip that subsequently became part of Ross River Road beside The Weir State School.