Woolloongabba

Experts are divided regarding the Aboriginal meaning of the name, preferring either 'whirling waters' (woolloon and capemm) or 'fight talk place' (woolloon and gabba).[6]

Because the area was low-lying and swampy, it was known as the One Mile Swamp. Although this name appears to be unofficial, it was in common use until the early 1890s.[7]

Gabba Fiveways, 1929

The suburb has a significant link to the history of transport in Brisbane. Between 1884 and 1969, the main railway locomotive depot for lines south of the Brisbane River was beside Stanley St. It was reached via a line that ran beside Stanley St, then crossing it, Logan Road and Ipswich Road to the main line at Dutton Park. By the 1960s, services from the depot were causing significant delays to traffic as they crossed these three major roads.

The suburb was served by horse-drawn trams from 1885 to 1897, which were replaced by electric trams, which in turn ceased operation on 13 April 1969. All but one of Brisbane's trolleybus routes traversed the suburb, from 1953 to 1969. The Woolloongabba Fiveways (the intersection of Stanley Street, Main Street, Logan Road and Ipswich Road) was a complex junction with tram and railway lines, and tram and trolleybus overhead. Trams were controlled by a signalman, who operated the points (or switches) from a signal cabin near the eastern side of the junction. Trains were escorted across the junction by a flagman. Curiously, Queensland Railways always referred to the branch line as the Wooloongabba Branch, spelled with only one 'l'.[8]

Tram No 499 ready to leave the Ipswich Road Depot, 1969

From 1927 until 1969, the largest of the Brisbane City Council's tram depots was on Ipswich Road between Cornwall Street and Tottenham Street (27.5005°S 153.0358°E / -27.5005; 153.0358 (Woolloongabba Tram Depot)), opposite the Princess Alexandra Hospital, now the site of the Buranda Village shopping centre.[9] This tram depot was also used by the council's buses.

Brisbane Christian Spiritual Alliance Church (former), 2020

On 9 April 1938 the foundation stone of the Brisbane Spiritual Alliance Church was laid at 208 Logan Road (27.4948°S 153.0416°E / -27.4948; 153.0416 (Brisbane Christian Spiritualist Alliance Church)). It was dedicated to the memory of George Coxon and his wife Mary who bequeathed two blocks of land and £2000 to the Church which they had established in 1924 following a split with another spiritualist church, after which they met in a building made of galvanised iron in Buranda. The architect was E. P. Trewern.[10][11][12] The church was opened on Sunday 10 July 1938. A window in the western wall memorialised George Coxon.[13] The church was still operating in 1990,[14] but, as at 2020, is used as commercial premises.[15]

In early 1942, the first Coca-Cola bottling plant in Australia was built in Woolloongabba at 36-39 Balaclava Street.[16] It was originally designed to supply the demands of the newly arrived US military personnel, but later expanded production to the local Australian market.

In early 2013 the congregation known over time as the Vulture Street Baptist Church, South Brisbane Baptist Church and South Bank Baptist Church relocated from their church at 128 Vulture Street (corner of Christie Street), South Brisbane, to a new site at 859 Stanley Street, Woolloongabba (27.4872°S 153.0393°E / -27.4872; 153.0393 (Church@TheGabba)), renaming itself as Church@TheGabba.[17][18][19]

Diamantina Hospital for Chronic Diseases, 1920

Woolloongabba has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

• 8 Annerley Road: Princess Theatre[22]
• Cornwall Street: former Dispenser's House of Diamantina Hospital[23]
• 24 Cowley Street: Buranda State School[24]
• 68 Hawthorne Street: Holy Trinity Anglican Church[25]
• 102 Ipswich Road: Norman Hotel[26]
• 10-14 Logan Road: former Taylor-Heaslop Building[27]
• 93 Logan Road: Broadway Hotel[28]
• 208 Logan Road: Brisbane Christian Spiritual Alliance Church[10]
• 842-848 Main Street: the former Woolloongabba Police Station[29]
• 609 & 613 Stanley Street: Shop Row[30]
• 615 Stanley Street: Hillyards Shop House[31]
• 617-619 Stanley Street: Pollock's Shop House[32]
• 647 Stanley Street: Phoenix Buildings[33]
• 765 Stanley Street: the former Woolloongabba Post Office[34]
• 34 Sword Street: Woolloongabba Air Raid Shelter[35]

Main entrance to the Princess Alexandra Hospital, 2010

The Pacific Motorway in Woolloongabba, 2006

The suburb is home to the Brisbane Cricket Ground known as "the Gabba", and the Princess Alexandra Hospital. Woolloongabba has many apartment buildings due to river views, and the suburb's proximity to the Brisbane central business district and South Bank Parklands. The Norman Hotel is a local landmark that has served customers since 1890.[36] The head office of the Queensland Justices Association is located in Woolloongabba.[37]

Woolloongabba is home to a number of places of worship, particularly Eastern European churches, including:

• Serbian Orthodox Church of Saint Nicholas (Ross Street)[38]
• Holy Trinity Anglican Church (Hawthorne Street)[39]
• Finnish Lutheran Church in Brisbane (Hawthorne Street)[40]
• Holy Annunciation Orthodox Church (Park Road)[41]
• Protection of the Mother of God Ukrainian Catholic Church (Broadway Street)[42]
• New Apostolic Church (Qualtrough Street)[43]
• Darul Uloom Islamic Academy of Brisbane (Agnes Street)[44]
• South Brisbane Seventh-day Adventist Church (O'Keefe Street)[45]

See Brisbane Cricket Ground.

In the 2016 census, the population of Woolloongabba was 5,631. 51.3% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were China 3.8%, New Zealand 3.5%, England 2.7%, South Korea 2.7% and India 2.5%. 59.2% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 5.9%, Vietnamese 2.7%, Korean 2.4% and Spanish 2.3%. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 42.2% and Catholic 15.2%.[1]

The Pacific Motorway cuts through the suburb with an exit south into Vulture Street and a Stanley Street exit for vehicles heading north. Additionally, there is an entrance to the Clem Jones Tunnel in the suburb on Ipswich road.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Woolloongabba, Queensland.

• University of Queensland: Queensland Places: Woolloongabba
• Boggo Road Gaol Historical Society
• Friends of South Brisbane Cemetery