Queen Street, Brisbane

{{Infobox Australian road

| type = street

| urban = yes

| road_name = Queen{{nbsp}}Street, Brisbane

| state = qld

| image = Queen Street with 443 Queen Street in the background, Brisbane, January 2021, 01.jpg

| imagesize =

| caption = View from Queen Street Mall

| image_alt = View of the street from Queen Street Mall

| coordinates_a =

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| route =

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| tourist =

| direction_a = West

| end_a = Victoria Bridge, North Quay

| exits = George Street, Albert Street, Edward Street, Creek Street, Adelaide Street

| direction_b = East

| end_b = Ann Street

| region =

| lga = City of Brisbane

| through =

| restrictions = Partially pedestrianised

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}}

Queen Street is the main street of Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. It is named after Queen Victoria.

The western part of the street is covered by a new plaza at the base of Brisbane Square and underneath part of the western half is the Queen Street bus station.

Queen Street is heavily built up with arcades, shops, hotels, offices and apartment high-rises such as MacArthur Central, Brisbane Square, Central Plaza, Aurora Tower, Treasury Casino, Wintergarden, Broadway on the Mall, The Myer Centre and QueensPlaza. Queen Street is also the location of Brisbane's General Post Office.

Geography

File:Brisbane map of city cbd.png

Queen Street is the city's central road, partly covered by a pedestrian mall called the Queen Street Mall. It ends at the Victoria Bridge and is bounded by two of the Brisbane River's central reaches. Uptown at the top of the mall is George Street.

The next street parallel to the south is Elizabeth Street, while Adelaide Street is the next parallel street to the north.

History

File:StateLibQld 1 124731 Great fire in Queen Street, Brisbane 1864.jpg]]

File:StateLibQld 1 234758 Busy Queen Street, Brisbane, 1889.jpg

File:The Manor Apartment Hotel, Brisbane, Queensland, Jan 2021.jpg

File:StateLibQld 1 42671 Queen Street, Brisbane, ca. 1935.jpg

File:StateLibQld 1 110000 Queen Street, Brisbane, with decorations for the royal visit in 1954.jpg

Before 1842 and free settlement, Queen Street was originally a track leading from the main section of the early Moreton Bay Penal Colony, crossing a stream known as Wheat Creek with a deviation going up to the Windmill. In early 1840, a surveyor named Dixon drew up a survey for the central Brisbane streets with all streets {{convert|66|ft|m|abbr=off}} wide. Changes were then made to this plan with square blocks flattened into a rectangular grid with streets becoming 1.4 chains (27 metres). On Governor Gipps' visit to Brisbane Town in March 1842, Gipps remarked that Brisbane Town was "simply an ordinary provincial settlement", which would need no grand avenues. As a result, Gipps moved the planned width of Queen Street, along with other streets, back to {{convert|66|ft|m|abbr=off}}, arguing that this change would mean that buildings could be kept out of the sun.

Later, there was compromise with the main street that would be known as Queen Street, with the western boundary's width changed to 1.2 chains (24 metres).{{Cite web |url=http://blogs.slq.qld.gov.au/jol/2012/07/05/queensland-place-histories-queen-street-brisbane/ |title=Queensland Place Histories: Queen Street, Brisbane |access-date=24 September 2012 |archive-date=30 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120830183002/http://blogs.slq.qld.gov.au/jol/2012/07/05/queensland-place-histories-queen-street-brisbane/ |url-status=live }}

The first sitting of Legislative Assembly of Queensland in May 1860 occurred in the old converted convict barracks on Queen Street.{{Citation |last=Armstrong |first=Lyn |title=Brisbane:Corridors of Power |place=Brisbane |publisher=Brisbane History Group Inc |series=Papers |volume=15 |year=1997 |editor-last=Shaw |editor-first=Barry |chapter='A somewhat rash experiment':Queensland Parliament as a microcosm of society |page=54 |isbn=0-9586469-1-0 }}

In 1864, there were two significant fires along the street.{{cite book|title=The Making of a Metropolis: Brisbane 1823–1925|last=Laverty|first=John|year=2009|publisher=Boolarong Press|location=Salisbury, Queensland|isbn=978-0-9751793-5-2|page=56}} The September 1864 fire started in the Little Wonder store on Edward Street{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1261558 |title=Fire in Edward-Sreet |newspaper=The Brisbane Courier |date=5 September 1864 |access-date=24 September 2012 |page=2 |publisher=National Library of Australia |archive-date=5 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240305083527/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/1261558 |url-status=live }} which destroyed 14 shops in Queen Street. This event later became known as Bulcock's Fire. On 1 December 1864, the Great Fire of Brisbane started within the cellar of a Queen Street drapery store which burnt down buildings bordering Queen Street, as well as Albert Street, Edward Street, George Street and Elizabeth Street.[http://www.archives.qld.gov.au/Researchers/Exhibitions/QldFirsts/01-25/Pages/4.aspx Queensland State Archives | 1860 – Fiery beginnings] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141127125357/http://www.archives.qld.gov.au/Researchers/Exhibitions/QldFirsts/01-25/Pages/4.aspx |date=27 November 2014 }}, Queensland State Archives. Brisbane Courier described the fire as "the whole of the business premises and private residences...were, in a couple of hours, reduced to a heap of ruins".{{Cite web |url=http://blogs.slq.qld.gov.au/jol/2008/09/11/the-great-fire-of-brisbane-1864/ |title=The Great Fire of Brisbane, 1864 |access-date=24 September 2012 |archive-date=29 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140329184508/http://blogs.slq.qld.gov.au/jol/2008/09/11/the-great-fire-of-brisbane-1864/ |url-status=live }}

On 9 December 1882, a demonstration of electricity was conducted with eight arc lights along Queen Street.{{cite book |title=The History of Electricity in Queensland|last=Dunn|first=Col|year=1985|publisher=Col Dunn|location=Bundaberg|isbn=0-9589229-0-X|page=21}} Power was supplied by a 10 hp generator driven by a small engine in a foundry in Adelaide Street. This was Australia's first recorded use of electricity for public purposes.

In 1885, Poul C. Poulsen opened his photographic studio at 7 Queen Street.{{Cite SLQ-CC-BY|url=http://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au/permalink/f/1oppkg1/slq_blogs18120|title=Early Queensland photography - Poulsen Studios|author=Myles Sinnamon|date=15 September 2015|website=Blog|access-date=25 May 2022}} Ada Driver trained at Poulson’s studio before opening her own photographic studio, ‘Ada Driver’s Studio’, at 51 Queen street in 1906.{{Cite web |title=Driver, Ada Annie |url=https://www.womenaustralia.info/entries/driver-ada-annie/ |access-date=2024-03-09 |website=AWR |language=en-AU}}{{Cite web |title=DRIVER, ADA (G) |url=https://photoria.com.au/portfolio/driver-ada/ |access-date=2024-03-09 |website=Photoria |language=en-AU}}

In 1902, part of Queen Street was not paved or sealed although stormwater drainage was well maintained.{{cite book|title=Shaping a city|last=Cole|first=John R.|year=1984|publisher=William Brooks Queensland|location=Albion, Queensland|isbn=0-85568-619-7|page=32}}

Queen Street is historically significant as it contains MacArthur Central, the building in which the American General Douglas MacArthur had his South West Pacific headquarters (from July 1942 to November 1944) during World War II and directed the Allied Forces campaign.{{Cite web |url=http://home.st.net.au/~dunn/ozatwar/amp.htm |title=General Headquarters (GHQ), South West Pacific Area, Queen Street, Brisbane |access-date=15 June 2007 |archive-date=19 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130119041316/http://home.st.net.au/~dunn/ozatwar/amp.htm |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/dimensions/dimensions_in_time/Transcripts/s491019.htm |title=MacArthur's War Chambers, Brisbane |access-date=15 June 2007 |archive-date=17 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071217104150/http://www.abc.net.au/dimensions/dimensions_in_time/Transcripts/s491019.htm |url-status=live }} The former AMP building was later renamed MacArthur Central as a tribute to General MacArthur.

Tram services along Queen Street were converted to buses on 14 April 1969.{{cite book|title=Shaping a city|last=Cole|first=John R.|year=1984|publisher=William Brooks Queensland|location=Albion, Queensland|isbn=0-85568-619-7|page=270}}

In 1981, the part of the street between Albert Street and Edward Street was closed to traffic.{{cite news |title='Flashback' – Queen St Closure |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBfjfz56__c |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211214/qBfjfz56__c |archive-date=2021-12-14 |url-status=live|publisher=BTQ7 News}}{{cbignore}} This section was opened as the Queen Street Mall in 1982, in time for the Commonwealth Games.{{cite web |url=http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/business/queen-street-malls-30year-evolution-20120227-1tyoq.html |title=Queen Street Mall's 30-year evolution |publisher=Brisbanetimes.com.au |access-date=2012-05-25 |archive-date=2 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302195201/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/business/queen-street-malls-30year-evolution-20120227-1tyoq.html |url-status=live }} Later, the section between Albert Street and George Street was converted into an extension of the pedestrian mall, timed to coincide with Brisbane's Expo '88.

A number of buildings were demolished on Queen Street in the 1980s, including Her Majesty's Theatre, the Wintergarden cinema and the Odeon cinema as the mall development proceeded.

Heritage listings

There are many heritage-listed buildings in Queen Street, including:

21 Queen Street: Treasury Building{{cite QHR|14918|Treasury Building|600143|access-date=13 July 2015}}
33 Queen Street: Bank of New South Wales Building{{cite QHR|14929|Westpac Bank Building|600154|access-date=13 July 2015}}
43 Queen Street: Trustees Chambers{{cite QHR|14932|ANZ Bank|600157|access-date=13 July 2015}}
62 Queen Street: Colonial Mutual Chambers{{cite QHR|14935|62 Queen Street|600160|access-date=13 July 2015}}
86 Queen Street: Palings Building (also known as City International Duty Free){{cite QHR|14936|City International Duty Free|600161|access-date=13 July 2015}}
110 Queen Street: Allan and Stark Building (also known as former Myer Store){{cite QHR|14937|Myer Store (former) [incorporating Miss Brisbane 600136]|600162|access-date=13 July 2015}}{{cite QHR|14911|Building - Miss Brisbane [incorporated in Myer Store (former) see 600162]|600136|access-date=13 July 2015}}
114 Queen Street: Gardams Building{{cite QHR|14912|Gardams|600137|access-date=13 July 2015}}
116 Queen Street: Hardy Brothers Building{{cite QHR|14913|Hardy Brothers|600138|access-date=13 July 2015}}
120 Queen Street: Edwards and Chapman Building{{cite QHR|14914|Sportsgirl|600139|access-date=13 July 2015}}
160 Queen Street: Brisbane Arcade{{cite QHR|14833|Brisbane Arcade|600058|access-date=13 July 2015}}
167 Queen Street: Regent Theatre{{cite QHR|14915|Regent Building|600140|access-date=13 July 2015}}
180 Queen Street: National Australia Bank (180 Queen Street){{cite QHR|14916|National Australia Bank|600141|access-date=13 July 2015}}
196 Queen Street: Finney Isles & Co Building{{cite QHR|14917|David Jones|600142|access-date=13 July 2015}}
229 Queen Street: MacArthur Chambers{{cite QHR|14922|MacArthur Chambers|600147|access-date=13 July 2015}}
270 Queen Street: Sir William Glasgow Memorial{{cite QHR|19561|Sir William Glasgow Memorial|602439|access-date=13 July 2015}}
289 Queen Street: Newspaper House (now the Manor Apartment Hotel){{cite QHR|14925|Newspaper House|600150|access-date=13 July 2015}}
299 Queen Street: National Mutual Life Building{{cite QHR|14926|Custom Credit House|600151|access-date=13 July 2015}}
308 Queen Street: National Australia Bank (308 Queen Street){{cite QHR|14928|National Australia Bank|600153|access-date=13 July 2015}} and its First World War Honour Board{{cite QHR|14927|First World War Honour Board|600152|access-date=13 July 2015}} (separate listings)
424–426 Queen Street: Queensland Country Life Building facade{{cite QHR|14933|Former Queensland Country Life Building facade|600158|access-date=13 July 2015}}
427 Queen Street: former Brisbane Customs House{{cite QHR|14931|Brisbane Customs House (former)|600156|access-date=13 July 2015}}
443–501 Queen Street: Petrie Bight Retaining Wall{{cite QHR|14934|Petrie Bight Retaining Wall|600159|access-date=13 July 2015}}
560 Queen Street: Orient Hotel{{cite QHR|16858|Orient Hotel|602122|access-date=13 July 2015}}

The present Hungry Jacks fast food restaurant occupies Beak House, a listed building previously owned by a farming and investment company. The present McDonald's restaurant is located directly opposite in the building formerly occupied by Jo Jo's Restaurant.

Queen Street, Brisbane

Geography

History

Heritage listings

Major intersections

See also

References

External links