Musgrave Park, Brisbane facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Musgrave Park |
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Musgrave Park in South Brisbane
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| Location | Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
| Area | 6.3 hectares (16 acres) |
| Created | 1856 |
Musgrave Park is a special park in South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It's surrounded by Edmonstone, Russell, and Cordelia Streets, and Brisbane State High School. The park covers about 6.3 hectares (which is like 15.5 acres). It's very important to Aboriginal Australians because of its long history and cultural meaning. Both the park and its old bowls clubhouse (now a community centre) are listed on the Brisbane Heritage Register, which means they are protected because of their historical value.
Park History
Musgrave Park was once part of a large camping ground for Aboriginal people from the Kurilpa (South Brisbane) area. This area stretched from Highgate Hill all the way to the river bank. In the 1840s and 1850s, Aboriginal people from here and Woolloongabba would go into South Brisbane to work. They would chop wood, carry water, and sell fish.
The park was first created in 1856 and was known as the South Brisbane Recreation Reserve. In 1867, there was a plan to build a public grammar school (which became Brisbane State High School) right next to the park. In 1884, the park was renamed Musgrave Park. It was named after the person who was the Governor of Queensland at the time, Sir Anthony Musgrave. A governor is like a leader of a state or territory.
In 1983, a person named Bob Weatherall started collecting documents about the park's links to Aboriginal history. This led to the Musgrave Park Report in 1985, which showed how important the area was to Indigenous people. In 1998, the Brisbane City Council set aside part of the park. This was for building an Indigenous cultural centre. The council has said that the park is a place where Aboriginal people held important gatherings, ceremonies, and solved disagreements.
What Happens at the Park Today
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Musgrave Park is home to the Jagera Arts Centre. This building used to be a lawn bowls clubhouse. The park is one of the few green spaces left in Brisbane's inner city. On August 24, 1998, after many years of discussions, the Musgrave Park Aboriginal Corporation (MPAC) was able to lease parts of the park. This allowed them to build a cultural centre.
The park is very special to the local Indigenous people. In the past, there were rules that stopped Aboriginal people from crossing the park to enter the city of Brisbane. The park is also the site of a buried bora ring. A bora ring is a sacred place used for special ceremonies by the native Murri people.
Each year, Musgrave Park hosts several big events:
- The Paniyiri Greek Festival, which celebrates Greek culture.
- The National Aboriginal and Islander Day of Celebration (NAIDOC) Park Day, which celebrates the history, culture, and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
- The Lesbian and Gay Brisbane Pride Festival Fair Day, which celebrates the LGBTQ+ community.
In 2020, the last day of National Reconciliation Week was marked in Musgrave Park. On June 3, 2020, people held a candlelight vigil. They lit 432 candles for each Aboriginal person who had died in custody since 1991. An extra candle was lit for George Floyd, an Afro-American man who was killed by a police officer.
