Situated in Wulgurukaba country, the Townsville suburb of Aitkenvale includes the major intersection of Ross River Road and Nathan Street, formerly part of the Bruce Highway between Brisbane and Cairns.
While the Townsville City Ring Road has diverted highway traffic away from Nathan Street, the intersection and the two arterial roads continue to carry heavy traffic. As a result, offices and shopping centres have largely replaced the residential areas along both thoroughfares, making it, in effect, the city's second CBD.
The rest of the suburb is mainly residential, with light industrial warehouses and workshops in its northeastern corner between Ross River Road and Charles Street.
The suburb is named after Thomas Aitken, who established a dairy farm around 1867. Two buildings from the original farm (the Herdsman's Cottage and Cordial Factory) reputedly still stand on the Ross River side of what is now Leopold Street
Aitken began subdividing the property during the 1880s, putting 440 quarter-acre residential allotments on the market in 1885.
The Aitkenvale Arms Hotel (subsequently The Vale) opened in 1884, while a post office opened in 1896.
The Townsville Golf Club moved from Kissing Point to Aitkenvale in 1921, then relocated to its present site in Rosslea in 1924.
Aitkenvale State School opened on 2 June 1924.
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.
The Australian Armed Forces took over the State School grounds.
A RAAF airstrip near the Aitkenvale Weir on Ross River was used to train fighter pilots. The Weir School became the strip's administrative headquarters. The school's students were relocated to temporary classrooms, and the strip subsequently became part of Ross River Road.