Pollock's Shop House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Pollock's Shop House |
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Building in 2015
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| Location | 617-619 Stanley Street, Woolloongabba, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
| Design period | 1840s - 1860s (mid-19th century) |
| Built | c. 1865 |
| Official name: Pollock's Shop House | |
| Type | state heritage (built) |
| Designated | 21 October 1992 |
| Reference no. | 600356 |
| Significant period | 1860s (fabric) c. 1865- ongoing (historical use as shops) |
| Significant components | residential accommodation - manager's house/quarters, laneway |
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Pollock's Shop House is a very old building in Woolloongabba, Queensland, Australia. It's located on Stanley Street and was built around 1865. This two-storey brick building used to be a general store and has been home to many different shops over the years. It's now listed on the Queensland Heritage Register, which means it's an important part of Queensland's history and is protected.
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History of Pollock's Shop House
This old brick building was built in the mid-1860s. It might have been built for a businessman named William Pettigrew or for a builder and butcher named Alexander Pollock. Alexander Pollock bought the land in April 1865.
Woolloongabba's Early Days
Pollock's Shop House was one of the first brick buildings in the area then known as "One-mile Swamp." This area later became Woolloongabba. In the 1860s, Stanley Street started to become an important shopping area.
The One-mile Swamp area grew a lot in the 1860s. This happened because the mail route to Toowoomba changed. Also, a new road to Ipswich was built. In June 1865, Brisbane's first bridge across the river, the Victoria Bridge, opened. These changes made people want to invest in land at One-mile Swamp.
In 1864, a large piece of land called the Clarence Town Estate was put up for sale. This land was important because it had frontages to Stanley Street. Suddenly, in the mid-1860s, many small businesses opened along the new Ipswich Road. Pollock's Shop House was one of these new businesses.
Local Industries and Changes
For a long time, One-mile Swamp was a separate settlement from nearby areas like South Brisbane. Its growth was linked to traffic coming from inland areas. Another reason the area grew was the discovery of clay beds. These clay beds were used to make bricks. A brickworks was set up near where Woolloongabba cricket ground is today, around 1856. More brickworks opened in the area in the 1860s and 1870s. It's very likely that the bricks used to build Pollock's Shop House came from these local brickworks. This shows us one of Woolloongabba's earliest industries.
Alexander Pollock faced financial problems in 1866-1867. He had to give up the Stanley Street property in 1868. It's said he later became rich again during the Gympie gold rush.
Since then, many different small businesses have used the ground floor of the building. By the 1900s, there were four shops. One long-lasting business was an oyster saloon run by Luigi Cervetto. His family owned the property until 1956. The top floor of the building has been rented out as rooms for people to stay in.
What Pollock's Shop House Looks Like
Pollock's Shop House is on Stanley Street, near Clarence Corner. It's right next to Hillyard's Shop House, which is another two-storey brick building built around the same time. There's a narrow laneway along the side of the building. At the back, there's a paved car park.
Building Structure
The main part of the building is a two-storey brick section. It has older timber additions on both sides. There's also a single-storey extension at the back. The central brick part has a hipped roof. The side sections have roofs that slope inwards.
The building looks very balanced. It has two windows on the top floor at the back. On the Stanley Street side, there are three doorways leading to the verandah. A street awning and verandah cover the entire front of the building. This makes the different parts of the building look like one unified structure.
The outside of the building on the eastern side and the verandah are covered with fibro (a type of building material). The underside of the street awning is also covered with fibro.
Inside the Building
The central brick part of the building has smooth plaster on the walls. The ceilings are made of lathe and plaster, and the floors are pine wood. The roof is made of corrugated iron sheets over old timber shingles.
The timber additions on the sides have horizontal timber boards on the outside. Inside, the walls and ceilings are covered with vertical timber boards. These parts of the building also have corrugated iron roofs.
There's a central chimney that serves both floors. The wooden parts inside, like the staircase, are made of cedar wood.
The ground floor of the main part has a front shop. There are also two back rooms that might have been a kitchen. A side staircase leads upstairs. On the first floor, the staircase opens into a large room. This room has French doors that open onto the Stanley Street verandah. There are also two bedrooms at the back, on either side of the fireplace.
The eastern side of the building has a shop on the ground floor. At the back, there are two small rooms. A staircase from here leads to four rooms upstairs. Each of these upstairs rooms has a window with an outside cover.
The western side of the building has another shop on the ground floor with a room at the back. You can get to the two rooms and small bathroom upstairs from the front verandah.
Most of the shopfronts have glass display cases next to the doorways. These shopfronts are from the early 1900s. The shop on the far western side has a metal roller shutter.
Why Pollock's Shop House is Important
Pollock's Shop House was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992. This means it's recognized as a very important historical site.
A Glimpse into the Past
This building is important because it shows us how Woolloongabba (then called One-Mile Swamp) grew in the mid-1860s. It also gives us rare clues about the early brick-making industry in the area. Not much physical evidence or written records of this industry still exist. The building also shows us how brick buildings were constructed in the 1860s and the styles that were popular then.
A Rare Survivor
Pollock's Shop House is one of only a few two-storey brick shop houses from the 1860s that are still standing in Brisbane. It's very special because it's still mostly in its original condition. It helps us understand what life was like in the past.
Part of the Community's Look
This building is a key part of the look and feel of the Clarence Corner area. It stands next to another similar old brick shop house. Together, these buildings add a lot to the historical appearance of Woolloongabba.
