Queen Street, Brisbane

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

Queen Street
LocationBrisbane central business district
West endVictoria Bridge, North Quay
Major
junctions		George Street, Albert Street, Edward Street, Creek Street, Adelaide Street
East endAnn Street
Other
StatusPartially pedestrianised

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
Map of Brisbane CBD

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
Great fire of Brisbane
Queen Street in 1889
Manor Apartments
Queen Street, Brisbane, ca. 1935
Queen Street, Brisbane, with decorations for the royal visit in 1954

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 66 feet (20 metres) 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 66 feet (20 metres), 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).[1]

The first sitting of Legislative Assembly of Queensland in May 1860 occurred in the old converted convict barracks on Queen Street.[2]

In 1864, there were two significant fires along the street.[3] The September 1864 fire started in the Little Wonder store on Edward Street[4] 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.[5] 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".[6]

On 9 December 1882, a demonstration of electricity was conducted with eight arc lights along Queen Street.[7] 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.[7]

In 1902, part of Queen Street was not paved or sealed although stormwater drainage was well maintained.[8]

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.[9][10] 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.[11]

In 1981, the part of the street between Albert Street and Edward Street was closed to traffic.[12] This section was opened as the Queen Street Mall in 1982, in time for the Commonwealth Games.[13] 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.[13]

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:

Major intersections

See also

References
  1. Queensland Place Histories: Queen Street, Brisbane
  2. Armstrong, Lyn (1997), "'A somewhat rash experiment':Queensland Parliament as a microcosm of society", in Shaw, Barry (ed.), Brisbane:Corridors of Power, Papers, 15, Brisbane: Brisbane History Group Inc, p. 54, ISBN 0-9586469-1-0
  3. Laverty, John (2009). The Making of a Metropolis: Brisbane 1823–1925. Salisbury, Queensland: Boolarong Press. p. 56. ISBN 978-0-9751793-5-2.
  4. "Fire in Edward-Sreet". The Brisbane Courier. National Library of Australia. 5 September 1864. p. 2. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  5. Queensland State Archives | 1860 – Fiery beginnings, Queensland State Archives.
  6. The Great Fire of Brisbane, 1864
  7. Dunn, Col (1985). The History of Electricity in Queensland. Bundaberg: Col Dunn. p. 21. ISBN 0-9589229-0-X.
  8. Cole, John R. (1984). Shaping a city. Albion, Queensland: William Brooks Queensland. p. 32. ISBN 0-85568-619-7.
  9. General Headquarters (GHQ), South West Pacific Area, Queen Street, Brisbane
  10. MacArthur's War Chambers, Brisbane
  11. Cole, John R. (1984). Shaping a city. Albion, Queensland: William Brooks Queensland. p. 270. ISBN 0-85568-619-7.
  12. "'Flashback' – Queen St Closure". BTQ7 News.
  13. "Queen Street Mall's 30-year evolution". Brisbanetimes.com.au. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  14. "Treasury Building (entry 600143)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  15. "Westpac Bank Building (entry 600154)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  16. "ANZ Bank (entry 600157)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  17. "62 Queen Street (entry 600160)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  18. "City International Duty Free (entry 600161)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  19. "Myer Store (former) [incorporating Miss Brisbane 600136] (entry 600162)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  20. "Building - Miss Brisbane [incorporated in Myer Store (former) see 600162] (entry 600136)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  21. "Gardams (entry 600137)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  22. "Hardy Brothers (entry 600138)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  23. "Sportsgirl (entry 600139)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  24. "Brisbane Arcade (entry 600058)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  25. "Regent Building (entry 600140)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  26. "National Australia Bank (entry 600141)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  27. "David Jones (entry 600142)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  28. "MacArthur Chambers (entry 600147)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  29. "Sir William Glasgow Memorial (entry 602439)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  30. "Newspaper House (entry 600150)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  31. "Custom Credit House (entry 600151)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  32. "National Australia Bank (entry 600153)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  33. "First World War Honour Board (entry 600152)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  34. "Former Queensland Country Life Building facade (entry 600158)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  35. "Brisbane Customs House (former) (entry 600156)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  36. "Petrie Bight Retaining Wall (entry 600159)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  37. "Orient Hotel (entry 602122)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
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