Information

The Annerley Junction Township is one of the great landmarks on Brisbane Southside. Council plans in 1916 and 1935 give us snapshots of the eastern-side of the shopping strip. The following is the description of what is seen in 1935. Along the Ipswich road eastern business strip of the Annerley Township from Dudley to Waldheim Streets, open land have been filled by 1935 with an additional four shops, including the one that fronted what was the Walker Memorial Hall. Many of the shops are dwellings with retail fronts. There are long backyard steps from the building in a few of the properties. Phil. A. Clare’s Draper Department Store dominated the centre of the strip. McCarthy & Nash Bakers on the Waldheim Street corner is a one story building with a brick basement. It sat on a very large corner block. At the back of the bakery there are stables for room for possibly six horses. There are also a sizable shed in the back area. In a photograph called “Removing a felled tree in Ipswich Road Annerley 1936,” there are major developments to be seen since two decades before. The shop buildings are much the same, with the large awnings. The shop signage is more professional. The old billboard-style tobacco sign has been removed. The ornamental trees are much larger, and, now regretfully, the subject of this photograph is the belief that it was necessary to remove the trees. It is extremely difficult to understand this short-sightedness given our current knowledge of the importance of urban beautification, and the huge difference that such beautification has made in the value of leafy suburbs. The major difference, though, that we see from the earlier camera shot of ca. 1915 are the early motor vehicles parked on the curb. The tram tracks have been doubled in parallel directions and the road is sealed with an earlier type of bitumen. The amount of electrical and telephone wiring and poles seemed to have increased. This may have been the argument for the removal of the trees, although the trees were sculptured to flatten out below the height of the wiring.

Citations

Annabel Lloyd. Detail Plans for Surveyors Plan Field Book. Brisbane City Archives, March 2007, in 1916-1935. Comparison Survey Plans for Junction Park. NDB Document No. BCA 083-094; Photography “Removing a felled tree in Ipswich Road Annerley 1936.” State Library of Queensland, Image Number: 67813.

Image Citations

Map References

QSA. QSA Series ID 2058 Moreton District Maps – A Series. 4 miles to the inch. Moreton District. 4miles to the inch. Survey Office, Brisbane.. 634883