Stage Number: MBSH.03.01.05
Group: Southern
Local Study Area: West End-South Brisbane-North Woolloongabba
Epoch: Late 19th Century
Street Address: 174 Boundary Street, West End
Latitude & Longitude: -27.48233333,153.01219444
Time Link: 1889
Map Link: 1889
Image Time Point: 1889
The West End School of Arts opened in January 1889 and featured a reading room stocked with a decent selection of books, and a community hall. While most libraries of the time charged a substantial entry fee that poorer people could not afford, the School of Arts functioned in part as a public library that was accessible to the less well-off. The School of Arts faced financial difficulties by 1893 and the South Brisbane City Council took over the running of the library. It served this function until the construction of the adjacent West End Library in 1928. The hall was also used for a wide variety of purposes, including meetings of local and community organisations, weddings, parties, music lessons, and a kindergarten. Unfortunately, the building was burned down by arsonists in 1968.
The Telegraph (Brisbane), 1 February 1889.
West End School of Arts in Brisbane, 1928. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Record number: 104348.
QSA. QSA Series ID 2043 City of Brisbane and Suburbs Maps – A1A Series. 8 chains to the inch. Plan of the City of Brisbane and suburbs according to the original Crown Grants. 8 chains to the inch. Survey Office, Brisbane.. 634511