A neighbourhood walk through the streets of West End

A Street Walker’s

Guide To West End

Tips for Enjoying the Walk

Wear comfortable shoes & clothing Wear a broad-brimmed hat & sunscreen Take drinking water Take your time and take care Walk with a friend and Bring a sense of adventure

In April 2010 a small number of local residents and business owners came together to discuss how they could document and share the special history and culture of the West End community with their neighbours, new residents, visitors to the suburb and the wider community of Brisbane. Uppermost in our minds was a concern that the rapid changes to our community through redevelopment would result in a loss of the things that make West End special: our history, our diversity and our creative spirit. Thus the West End Making History group was born.

Our Vision statement is: ―To engage with local residents and visitors around the politics and culture of the West End community to ensure that this history and uniqueness is visible, valued and taken forward into the future‖.

The Street Walker‘s Guide to West End is our first project. We hope you enjoy this small slice of West End and that some of our passion for our community comes through.

In this booklet is: a walking route (map on the last page) and a discovery guide.

West End Making History Group

Slow down. Leave the car at home. Take to the streets.

Walking is a great way to get to know where we live and to meet people. It allows us to pay attention and reveal clues about culture, identity and community. It can help us locate ourselves in time and space; to find a sense of belonging and a sense of home. So go on, get walking!

We Acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the Area

During ceremony time the senior Elders would wait until the first light of the new dawn and then they would walk out to the edge of the camp and scream out the names of the newly dead. They would work themselves into a heightened frenzy and then smash their heads and faces with stones until the blood flowed to show their grief and pain and their love. Our people always carried within themselves those living echoes of past generations and they always gave due honor to the fallen.

If you walk along Boundary Street today, at the first light of the new dawn. You close your eyes and shut out the world of today, you can lose the stench of this new camp of bitumen and steel and concrete and you will still be able to hear those Old People as they cry out the names of the dead.

Boundary Street was once used to keep our families apart and separate. Now we use this black pathway to celebrate our oneness and to rejoice in our collective humanity. The days of ceremony are no more, the mighty bunya trees have been felled, the vast tribal populations have been banished to the museums and the pages of classroom books. But within every single one of us there still beats the heart of the land beneath and that truth pulses deep and strong for we are the new guardians of the earth. We are the new callers of the four winds and we are the ones who wait by Mai War, to bear witness to the birth of her gathering tide.

Sam Watson

What’s in a name?

The Kurilpa Peninsula and West End have experienced waves of change for two hundred years and more. Yet very much of its core spirit and sense of place, diversity and community remain in rich layers of history. If you take this walk with open eyes and an enquiring mind it will open up this richness with all its beauty and surprises.

West End, believed to be named after London‘s West End, is a suburb known for its vibrancy and vitality. Its shop fronts and backyards, buildings and people reflect a diverse cultural landscape that has deep historical roots. It was an initial stop off point for new migrants.

The Brisbane Suburb and Localities Information from Queensland Place Names Board, U-Z, (n.d), compiled by the John Oxley Library, described it thus:

―The 1971 Census counted 7731 people in the suburb which also included the locality of Hill End, and of these 2360 were born overseas. By 1980 West End was often called 'Little Athens' as an estimated 75 percent of Brisbane's Greek population lived there‖.

―..from the 1981 Census it is noted that in the five years to 1981 some 541 Vietnamese found accommodation at West End and on overall figures Vietnam born residents outnumbered the Greek born by 598 to 576. Cypriots, Lebanese, Turks and Egyptians also exerted a strong presence and of course too, there were people from Britain, Ireland and New Zealand.‖.

A trip through time

c.1846 One of the first blocks of land was owned by John Davidson.

1860s Town houses were popular with squatters from the Darling Downs and the Brisbane hinterland.

1870s The farming community had changed to a residential area.

1875 West End State School was opened.

1880s Chinese market gardens established on the western side of Montague Road, between Boundary and Jane Streets. Many housing Estates were also established including: Orleigh, West End, Montague, Whynot and Dornoch Terrace.

1885 The West End Methodist Church opened.

1890 The West End Brewery was established on Montague Road.

1896 A tannery, sawmill and the Boundary Hotel were running.

1898 An electric tram was introduced.

1900s A centre of heavy industry had emerged with a gas works, concrete pipe works, steel pipe foundry, an iron and steel works, a boot factory, a glass works. Later a soft drink factory and an ice cream plant.

Image (below) Horse Drawn Tram No 1 , New Farm, West End 1890s,

Brisbane City Council, BCC-B120-17042.

Image (above) West End Brewery, Brisbane,

1896, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, image no.159529.

Boundary Street

Your journey starts on Boundary Street, outside Avid Reader.

Look at the building directly opposite.

142 Boundary Street (now Lock n Load): is an example of the type of buildings constructed in the 1880s to accommodate the number of residents and small business owners who moved to Boundary Street in the 1870s. It was the time when fa rmland gave way to residential development in West End and Boundary Street became its commercial hub. Over time, Boundary Street has established itself as the social and commercial heart of West End. Multicultural businesses have, through time, dominated this shopping strip and it continues today to be vibrant and diverse.

One relic of this past, however, which divided rather than embraced cultures, still exists in the name ―Boundary Street‖.

Boundaries: limits, confines or restraints.

What‘s in a name? Boundary Street was indeed a boundary that marked the limits of Brisbane Town. Gazetted in 1846 from Wade‘s 1844 survey, it sought to exclude Aboriginal peoples from streets within that boundary, the ―civilised‖ areas of the city, after 4pm and on Sundays. The exclusion was enacted to prevent night raids on homes and gardens from Aboriginal peoples and to keep ceremonial activity out of settler view. The curfew was administered by town police and later mounted police who were able to prevent entry and enforce the removal of ―undesirables‖.

last exit to Brisbane... Boundary St that forged black scratch a vein from South Bank to West End with a tail swallowed by the chocolate river. this is the line, the limit where the dark-skinned were told – DO NOT CROSS! a fence raised to protect the colonial domiciles of angels and gadflies, and even today, at rush hour that tar permanently keeps the scar alive and the dead languages buried to only escape in the bitumen heat-haze and fall upon deaf ears as this boundary continues to stay true to its makers denying the junkyard dingo the treasures of the city no access to Easy Street. fringe-dwelling in white-light static on the last exit to Brisbane.

Text: Samuel Wagan Watson. Smoke Encrypted Whispers. (2004, St. Lucia, University of Queensland Press), pp141-2. [Reprinted with permission] Image this page is part of the: Plan of Brisbane Town, 26 April 1842,Queensland State Archives, Digital Image ID 2774. [Reprinted with permission] Image opp page: Shops West End, 9 July 1959, Brisbane City Council, BCC-B54-12485.

Boundary Street continued

Boundary Street, West End marked the western border and Boundary Street, Spring Hill marked the northern border. The southern border was South Boundary Road (now Vulture Street) and the eastern border was East Boundary Road (now Wellington Road) East Brisbane.

Cross at the intersection of Vulture and Boundary

Streets. Turn around and look back at the brick building directly opposite. It was built in 1927 and is a fine example of commercial buildings built in Brisbane at that time. It has housed a variety of businesses including a grocery, a hardware store and a lingerie business, sparking a resident to remark that ―its gone from bolts to brassieres‖.

Image (above): Vulture Street West End, 1969, Brisbane City Council, BCC-B54-32274 Image (opp): West End State School, 1949, Brisbane City Council, BCC-B54-A857.

Vulture Street The name of the well known Brisbane band Powderfinger‘s fifth studio album released in 2003, Vulture Street extends approx 5 km in a west-east direction from West End to East Brisbane.

The HMS Vulture and HMS Leopard were warships in the Royal Navy during the Crimean War (1853-56). Vulture Street may have derived its name from the MHS Vulture.

Vulture, like Boundary Street has visible multicultural aspects, a tradition that has strong historical roots. Newly arrived migrants,

Vulture Street continued:

especially Greek and Vietnamese, in the 1940s to the 1970s who filled the gap in the labour force due to the ever expanding secondary industries, took up residence in West End. They were attracted to the area for its low cost housing and its close proximity to their employment.

West End has continued to be known as a multicultural community and a suburb with a mix of residential, business and light industry. As you walk up Vulture Street, take note of the following landmarks:

Vietnamese bakery, the Cypriot/Greek fruitshop, barber, tailors and optometrist.

Stroll down (and back) Princhester Street. On your left is the West End Mosque. It was originally built in 1900 as the Salvation Army Hall.

Back on Vulture Street, see the Vietnamese/Asian food store on the right, which was one of the first to be established in

Brisbane.

Pass the glass manufacturer on the corner of Cambridge and Vulture Streets.

Note the Greek delicatessen on the right.

On the corner of Turin and Vulture Streets, set back, is a building that was originally a tin factory.

Another important feature of Vulture Street is West

End State School which celebrates and promotes the diverse cultural backgrounds of its students: ―We all smile in the same language‖ is the school motto.

Hardgrave Road

From West End State School on Vulture Street you‘ll be turning left up Hardgrave Road. Take note of the shops on the

South East corner. They reflect the diverse, traditional and original home grown businesses of West End.

On the other corner of Vulture Street and Hardgrave

Road, take note of the Drydon Court Flats; the stucco-facaded apartment block. The flats together with the shop front were first erected in 1939. The shop remains today as Mick‘s Nuts.

The history of the original name of Hardgrave Road and its change are not certain. Council records show that from 1939, Hardgrave Road had changed its name from King Street. Interestingly, in the newspaper, The Queenslander, it reported in 1932 that the road

that took the name Hardgrave was originally called Government Road and not King Street. Also, the Brisbane Courier reports a fire at Hardgrave Road in 1903, suggesting the name change occurred a lot earlier.

There is, however, agreement that the new name remembers John Hardgrave, an early resident and Mayor of Brisbane: ―One of the best known of Brisbane's early citizens was

Mr. John Hardgrave, who was a conspicuous figure in his tall hat and frock coat.‖ Source: Lord, F.E 1932. ―Brisbane Historic Homes‖ The

Queenslander, 6 October, p34). Image (above): John Hardgrave, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, image no. 63589.

Continue along Hardgrave Road. As you pass Skinner Street, note the diverse eateries of Hardgrave Rd (Tibetan, Thai,

Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian, Italian, Bohemian).

Hardgrave Road continued:

Also take note of the Rialto Theatre, a well-known local landmark. The theatre, originally built in 1924, purportedly by a retired sea captain, was intended as a cinema but was also used for other purposes. During the 1940s and 50s the Rialto Theatre was used to record major radio

programs including, 4BK‘s Bob Dyer, 4BH‘s Jack Davey, Australia‘s Amateur Hour with Terry Deere and Quiz Kids with John Dease.

Another use was as a live performance venue. The Musical and Theatre Guild of Queensland performed there from 1952 after the closure of the Cremorne Theatre and Neville Jones presented live shows at the Rialto in the 1970s. In 1983, Nancy Weir purchased the Rialto and tried to revive the theatre with musical and variety productions.

In 1985, for example, the Street Arts Community Theatre Company staged ―Next Stop West End‖, a community show with a cast of thousands which told the story of West End from colonial times to the present.

Photos of Street Arts production, Next Stop West End, 1985. Photos courtesy of Steve Capelin.

After its sale in 1987, and reopening in 1988, the Rialto continued to be a venue for touring productions and community groups. The Rialto helped launch groups like the Rock 'n' Roll Circus (now Circa) which began in 1987, after the success of a large scale Street Arts community circus production at the Rialto in 1986. In 1995 a violent storm unroofed the building and it was subsequently demolished and redeveloped as specialty shops and restaurants.

Victoria Street

At the end of the shopping strip, turn right into Victoria Street. Note the very interesting set of houses built

right to the footpath.

Can you spot the beautiful vegetable garden in the backyard of a house on Victoria St? Once much more

common in West End and often a indicator of Greek residents, many have gone with the escalating value of land and the practice of infill development in the backyards of existing houses.

Opposite the garden is one of the oldest houses in the area, a two storey brick construction dating back to 1883, with recent

faunal gargoyles over the gate. The house is on a 12 perch allotment, pre-dating the Subdivision of Land Act of 1885, which basically required all allotments to be at least 16 perches.

Further down the street are some recently constructed houses whose timber and tin elements are designed to fit in better with

existing streetscapes than heavier brick or masonry construction.

As you come to Montague Road, look across and down the lower end of Victoria Street for a great vista of the River and Mt Coot-tha beyond. It was at this location that the Council‘s

Brisbane Traffic study of 1989 recommended the construction of a traffic bridge from Land Street, Toowong. It was strongly opposed by the West End community and the proposal was scrapped by a newly elected Council in 1991.

Image (above): Victoria Street, West End during the 1890 Brisbane floods, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, image no. 63118.

Montague Road

Now turn left onto Montague Road. Since the late 19th century heavy and light industry have lined the river along and around Montague Road. The arrival of a large number of Greek immigrants through Australia‘s postwar industrial development programs supported the expansion of these industries. As you walk along Montague Road take note of the new light industries in the area. Do you notice a theme? Coffee, cycling, furniture. Reflecting a West End that is green, communal and homely.

A prominent building remaining in the area is on the corner of Montague, Raven

and Drake Streets, known as the Thomas Dixon factory. It was designed by Richard Gailey architects and constructed in 1908 as a shoe and boot manufacturing factory, a Brisbane industry now obsolete. The factory held a high reputation in Brisbane as a family company whose managers provided good working conditions for their staff. Dixon sold the building to Morris in 1973 and was then bought by the Queensland government in 1975 and used as storage. The Thomas Dixon building, swapping its boots for slippers, is now home to the Queensland Ballet. Image (above): Brisbane architect, Richard Gailey, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, image no. 63597 & (below) Staff pictured outside Dixon's Shoe Factory, West End, John Oxley Library, SLQ, image no.165835.

Montague Road continued:

Directly opposite the Thomas Dixon building, at 405 Montague Road, are

the beautiful blue tiles and mosaics on the wall, depicting chemists‘ scales and bottles and the company logo of the former Drug Houses of Australia (DHA) warehouse and manufacturing facility which began operating in 1960. It is now occupied by Education Queensland.

Continue up Montague to the corner of Ferry Road, so named because a small cross river ferry took passengers, especially

local workers, back and forward to near the Regatta Hotel at Toowong until the landings were washed away in the 1974 flood and never replaced.

Continue along 40 metres to the sign for 439 Montague Road. Look down the concrete driveway to the beautiful old brick

factory with a most interesting roof line, to admit light and ventilation. It was the tannery building for the Thomas Dixon Shoe Factory. Return back down Montague Road to the corner of Drake Street.

Drake Street

As you proceed up Drake beyond the Thomas Dixon entrance you come to a number of small workers cottages, once

associated with the factory.

Interestingly, in a report dated 9 April 1975, the architectural branch of the Department of Works had the following to say about the streets surrounding the Dixon centre:

―Residentially the area is quite old and hence the homes are of a similar character. Raven Street in particular has a predominance of old homes while the wider Drake Street does have some better

Drake Street continued:

style homes.‖ (Source: Queensland State Archives Item ID602461, Batch file, public buildings).

Opposite at 28 Drake Street is a housing unit complex. At the rear to the left as you look through the

driveway is a stately brick and tile roofed building, formerly the Kodak factory, beautifully converted to public housing apartments in the 1990s.

Proceed up Drake Street and keep your eye out for flora with a district Mediterranean feel—olive and citrus trees.

Go further up Drake Street and you will spill into streets named after Indian rivers.

Hoogley, Jumna and Ganges Streets

These streets were named after immigrant ships Note the ―no through road‖ of Jumna Street as you turn from Drake Street left into Hoogley Street. Note how it turns into Ganges. Walk into Leitch Lane to your left, go up Ida Street, then take a first right into Mitchell Street.

Image (left): Hoogley Street, West End, Brisbane, c.1929, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, image no.191862.

Image (right) Car parked on Ganges Street at West End, Brisbane, ca. 1929, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, image no.65138.

Mitchell Street

Take note of the unique houses on the right. At the second speed bump is a house bearing the name: Lucknow. Could this be named after the capital city of Uttar Pradesh in India? It certainly flows on from the previous street signs named after Indian rivers!

Mitchell Street was also the site of the origin of the arts organisation, Street Arts Community Theatre Company.

Photo of Street Arts original members in Mitchell Street with local residents 1983. Photo courtesy of Steve Capelin.

Continue up Mitchell Street until you get back to Hardgrave Road. Look to your

right for more signs of a culturally eclectic West End. Take note of the multicultural restaurants (Turkish, Thai, Greek, Spanish).

Walk across the road. Continue back down Hardgrave Road towards Vulture Street. Note the black, white and red shop. It

used to be a tailor‘s shop for many years, then run by architects and is now a parfumerie.

Further along at the corner of Hardgrave and Bristol Streets, there is a fine example of what was originally a Queensland

tin and timber dwellings, to which was added probably in the 1950s, a masonry facade of Mediterranean design. It reflects evolving architectural tastes in West End as new people arrived over time. A peek along Bristol Street will also reveal a vegetable garden in the backyard.

Whynot Street

The next street along from Bristol is Whynot Street and why not turn right for a viewing! Don‘t be surprised if the sign is

missing! It disappears regularly. Whynot Street is a fair incline but the walk is definitely worth the view!

This street name has an interesting genesis. In 1881, a section of a block named Barron‘s Hill went up for sale. The auctioneer, as a way of promoting the land for sale, put forward a number of advantages of purchasing there, but with a twist—he added ―why not‖ to each feature. The words Why Not prompted the name of the estate and the street which ran through it. Accordingly the adverbs Why Not were joined and became Whynot Street on the Whynot Estate.

The name ―Whynot‖ also inspired writer and political activist Oodgeoo Noonuccal (Kath Walker) of the Noonuccal Clan, to use it to protest the exclusion of Aboriginal people from their land.

Source: Kath Walker, ―My People‖ (Milton, Jacaranda,

1970), p 16.

Whynot Street

Officiously they hawked about ‗Petition‘ to keep abos out,

And slavishly, without a peep, The feeble yes-men signed like sheep.

And are we still the ousted, then,

And dare you speak for decent men? This site was ours, you may recall,

Ages before you came at all.

‗No abos here!‘ Why not, Whynot? And if black-balling and boycott,

First black-ball pride and arrogance Boycott this vile intolerance.

Boundary Street continued:

Descending from the lofty heights of Whynot Street brings you back down to Boundary Street. Look straight across. Take

note of the Greek Island named on the wall in shells.

Now look right to the Dornoch Terrace Bridge passing over Boundary Street. It was part of a Brisbane City Council plan

to connect West End with the proposed University of Queensland development at St Lucia with a bridge at the end of Boundary Street. With the onset of WWII, came the suspension of UQ development and the bridge project was postponed. Although the Dornoch Terrace overpass bridge was constructed, eliminating the hill of Boundary Street which was too steep for the proposed trams, the bridge across the river was never built. Note that the tram/bridge idea was revived, but again abandoned, in 1996 as Briztram.

Turn left continue up Bound-ary Street. Take note of the

shop, Justice Products and Spiral Community Hub.

Also note the white picket fence on the corner of

Boundary and Granville Streets. This is the headquarters of the Ethnic Community Council Qld.

Now keep going! On the next corner of Boundary and

Brighton roads, you will see another house with the name of a Greek Island on its front wall.

Image (above): Excavation of the approach to the proposed West End to St. Lucia bridge, Brisbane, 1940, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, image no. 191071.

Boundary Street continued:

Walk on. You will reach a Georgian Revival style

building, Kurilpa Library at 178 Boundary Street. The name is in bronze lettering at the entrance of the building. Kurilpa was the name given to a locality covering South Brisbane, West End and Hill End by the local Aboriginal peoples The library was built for the West End School of Arts Committee in

1920. It was designed by A H Foster, Brisbane city architect and was the first purpose built municipal library in Queensland.

Image (above): Kurilpa Library, West End, 1962, Brisbane City Council, BCC-B54-18613.

Image (left) City Architect and Surveyor A H Foster, 1913, Brisbane City Council, BCC-B120-33085.

Diagonally across from the Library is the Greek Evangelical Church, which commenced its use of the building in 1950. The

building, however, had originally been constructed in 1910 as a gospel hall by the mission, associated with the Methodist church. The hall was built out of a desire to assist the struggling working class families in West End at that time and was run, for almost 30 years, by Samuel Crowther and his family.

Heading towards the corner of Boundary and Vulture Streets is 156 Boundary. Often called the Bagelos building after the

original bakery tenant, its controversial design sparked significant debate in the local community, when it was built in 1998. It replaced a rather functional brick box supermarket building on site since the 1950s. Love it or hate it, it has become a West End landmark.

Boundary Street continued:

Now cross the intersection of Vulture and Boundary Streets. Head to the corner of

Boundary and Russell Streets to the huge goanna. This sculpture was made during the 1990s as part of a public art program and has become an iconic part of the strip. People gather around to chew the fat. Some people even sit on the goanna‘s head.

A bit further along, on the corner of Boundary and Jane Streets is the Boundary Street Hotel. It was firstly built in 1864

by Donald Wilson who named it after the street on which it stands. Wilson was a Glaswegian who arrived on the ship Artemisia in 1848. He acquired the allotment of land, being the site of the hotel, by Deed of Grant in 1850. The building has over the years gone through a series of renovations and additions.

Image (below): Boundary Hotel, West End, Brisbane, c.1930, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, image no. 37972.

We hope you enjoyed the walk. Stay in the strip and have a

coffee. Don‘t forget to write on our facebook page. And do come back and enjoy what West End has to offer.

West End Making History Group 2010

Acknowledgments

The Gabba Ward Office, Lord Mayor's Suburban Initiative Fund, and Community Initiatives Resource Association.

All photographs reprinted with permission. By Zenovia A. Pappas for the West End Making History group