Our first week in Brisbane had been great fun and it fully justified us spending two weeks here to better appreciate the city and all it has to offer. The start of our second week (Wednesday) was a Bank Holiday in the CBD giving everyone an opportunity, like us, to visit EKKA. We decided to stroll down to the start of Fortitude Valley in the morning which was when we realised how close we were to EKKA’s showgrounds in the Bowen Hills – we could’ve walked there!
Fortitude Valley is Brisbane’s evening entertainment capital, yet we were going to visit it during the day when most of its shops and restaurants were closed. Why? – because the area has an interesting history and some of those historical buildings are still standing.
Early European Settlement
In the mid-1840s a Presbyterian clergyman, John Dunmore Lang, promoted assisted immigration as a means of relieving Britain’s impoverished classes. Acting in the belief that the government had agreed to grant the emigrants free land, Lang arranged the first of three shiploads to come to Moreton Bay. The first vessel, the Fortitude, arrived at Brisbane in January 1849. The free land was refused, but the new arrivals were given permission to set up a temporary village which beacme known as ‘Fortitude Valley’.
Religion and Retailing
During the 1870s and 1880s a number of churches of different denominations were built, an extensive drainage scheme constructed and schools opened, though Brisbane’s first railway line (1882) skirted the Valley.
Horse-drawn trams offered the main means of access to the Valley from 1885. Fortitude Valley’s rising commercial importance was best signified by the Renaissance style post office built in Ann Street in 1887 and the growing number of significant retail establishments, all department stores. The new shopping area was above the 1890 flood level, in contrast to central and South Brisbane.
Fortitude Valley had churches, chapels, State and Catholic schools, Oddfellows’ and Foresters’ halls, a public swimming baths in Wickham Street, numerous villa residences on the suburb’s outskirts toward the river and, in the other direction, the elegant new headquarters for the Exhibition (1891).
Electric trams were introduced in the 1890s while the group of department stores maintained the Valley’s retail importance for decades. Importantly, beyond the retail centre, there were substantial factories and warehouses.
Dark Deeds in the Valley
In the 1950s major retail chains from Melbourne and Sydney began to take over Brisbane and Valley department stores. The Valley’s retail strength dissipated as the retail anchors were closed, exacerbated by the rise of drive-in shopping centres. The industrial sites were now too small for modern industrial and warehousing methods, though some premises became affordable as galleries and for semi-retail occupations. Local employment dried up as people were attracted to the outer suburbs. In the 1980s Fortitude Valley was caught between a faded past and an uncertain future.
Recovery
A number of Malls, including the Chinatown Mall (1987) capitalised on aspects of the Valley’s cultural tradition and it became a middle-ranking retail area, known for Asian cuisine, entertainment and a fading history of illegal casinos and unlicensed night clubs. There are now 25 registered heritage sites in Fortitude Valley spelling out a brighter future for the area.
We discovered a neighbourhood of careworn character buildings that are home to a sprinkling of top art galleries, funky eateries, cafes and bars and some of the best indie shopping in Brisbane. The following week I had an opportunity to further explore the area, from James St down to New Farm, this time while the shops and eateries were open.
Sounds like an amazing trip!
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This is really a place to be, with your in-depth analysis,one should be there in a lifetime, great work, thanks for sharing this.
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Oh it was and there’s plenty more to come.
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Thank you for sharing your historical references and complimentary photos. Good. information.°°🐳💦
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Glad you enjoyed it.
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I will never be in Brisbane, I live in the other hemisphere, that’s why I read about the history of this city, look at photos and try to see as much of Australia as possible. This continent is worth exploring.
best regards
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My husband and I love Australia. If we were 20 years younger, we’d mov3 there tomorrow.
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This is really a place to be, with your in-depth analysis,one should be there in a lifetime, great work, thanks for sharing this.
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Glad you enjoyed it, there’s much more to come.
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I thrust you on that, keep the fire burning.
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What a lovely trip and lovely detail to enhance this post. Thank you.
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Glad you enjoyed it.
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You sure covered a lot of ground Sheree and experienced so much of our city’s diversity. The old and the new and of course our fabulous river life. So pleased that you enjoyed it all. Lyn
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Thanks Lyn but there’s still more to come.
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Wow! Thanks for the info and lovely photos. Bookmarking this for future reference 😁
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It’s well worth a visit
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I’m sure it is.
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Brilliant, Sheree, you did us proud!
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Thank you 🙏
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Awesome post, Sheree.
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Thanks
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Your history explains what is an otherwise incongruous name for an entertainments centre
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We visited partly because we heard so many people talking about it but couldn’t work out what it was from the name!
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🙂
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Very informative “look from behind” as your name suggests. Well written and rich in content and context.
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Thank you for your kind words.
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Liked, shared, flipped ! Thank you !
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