A photographic look at one of Brisbane’s oldest suburbs.
Bowen Hills was named (like rather a lot of things and places) after Queensland’s first Governor, Sir George Ferguson Bowen. It grew into a district in the 1860s, and many of its landmark places and buildings are still in existence, including Cintra House, Bowen Park, the Old Museum and Meigunyah. The Cloudland Ballroom is not, sadly. It was beloved by Brisbane music fans from 1940 to 1982, when it was demolished.
Panorama over Breakfast Creek, 1883. (State Library of Queensland.)Jordan Terrace residents survey the damage from the 1893 floods. (State Library of Queensland.)The original Exhibition Building in 1877. (State Library of Queensland.)Bowen Hills Slaughter Yards, 1910. (Brisbane City Council Images.)The Exhibition Buildings and (old) Queensland Museum, 1900. (Brisbane City Council Images.)
Bowen Park (formerly the Acclimatisation Gardens), Bowen Hills, 1950. (Brisbane City Council Images.)
Bowen Hills c. 1900 lantern slide. (State Library of Queensland.)Cloudland Ballroom, c 1940 (Brisbane City Council Images).
Meigunyah house in 1979 (Brisbane City Council Images).
Cintra House, 1992 (Brisbane City Council Images).
Moreton Bay and More 