Queen Street, Brisbane
Coordinates: 27°28′4.74″S 153°1′38.54″E / 27.4679833°S 153.0273722°E
Queen Street in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia, is one of the city's major streets. It is the city's central road, partly covered by a pedestrian mall called the Queen Street Mall. Queen Street 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 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 Brisbane Square, Central Plaza, Aurora Tower, Conrad Treasury Casino, Wintergarden, Broadway on the Mall, The Myer Centre and QueensPlaza. Queen Street is also the location of Brisbane's General Post Office.
The next street parallel to the south is Elizabeth Street, while Adelaide Street is the next parallel street to the north.
[edit] History
The first sitting of Queensland Legislative Assembly in May 1860 occurred in the old converted convict barracks on Queen Street.[1] In 1864, there were two significant fires along the street, one in April and another in December.[2]
On the 9 December 1882, a demonstration of electricity was conducted with eight arc lights along Queen Street.[3] 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.[3]
In 1902, part of Queen Street was not paved or sealed although stormwater drainage was well maintained.[4]
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.[5][6] 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.[7]
[edit] References
- ^ Armstrong, Lyn (1997), "'A somwhat rash experiment':Queensland Parliament as a microcosm of society", in Shaw, Barry, Brisbane:Corridors of Power, Papers, 15, Brisbane: Brisbane History Group Inc, p. 54, ISBN 0958646910
- ^ Laverty, John (2009). The Making of a Metropolis: Brisbane 1823—1925. Salisbury, Queensland: Boolarong Press. p. 56. ISBN 9780975179352.
- ^ a b Dunn, Col (1985). The History of Electricity in Queensland. Bundaberg: Col Dunn. p. 21. ISBN 0 9589229 0 X.
- ^ Cole, John R. (1984). Shaping a city. Albion, Queensland: William Brooks Queensland. p. 32. ISBN 0855686197.
- ^ General Headquarters (GHQ), South West Pacific Area, Queen Street, Brisbane
- ^ MacArthur's War Chambers, Brisbane
- ^ Cole, John R. (1984). Shaping a city. Albion, Queensland: William Brooks Queensland. p. 270. ISBN 0855686197.
[edit] External links
Media related to Queen Street, Brisbane at Wikimedia Commons
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