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Railway Administration Building, Rockhampton
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Railway Administration Building, Rockhampton
The Railway Administration Building is a heritage-listed former office building at 233 Denison Street, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1886. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 12 July 2005.
The building was constructed in 1886 to a design prepared in the Office of the Chief Engineer for Railways. Its construction reflects the importance of Rockhampton as the coastal terminus of the Central Western railway line and the important role of the Central Western and North Coast railway lines in opening the Rockhampton hinterland and central western Queensland to settlement and economic exploitation, especially pastoralism and mining, during the last three decades of the 19th century.
The Port Curtis Pastoral District was proclaimed in 1854 following pastoral exploration of the Fitzroy, Dawson and Mackenzie River systems and the Broadsound and Peak Downs areas in the early 1850s. A small settlement was established at Rockhampton in 1856 to service the pastoral properties being taken up in the district, but until the nearby Canoona gold rush of 1858, comprised little more than a few buildings and a small wharf. In 1858 the township of Rockhampton was surveyed, gazetted and proclaimed a port of entry.
A key impetus to the separation of Queensland from New South Wales in 1859 was the complaint that the Sydney-based New South Wales government spent little on transport and communications infrastructure in the northern districts. One of the first agenda items for the Queensland Government was the establishment of a railway system. In 1863 plans were approved for construction of the Southern railway line, a narrow gauge system to link the pastoral properties of the Darling Downs with coastal and international shipping. Although less populated and having a much smaller economic base than the Darling Downs, Port Curtis and Leichhardt district pastoralists argued that a rail link to the coast was essential to develop the area. Their political influence in the Queensland Parliament resulted in a deal being struck: their support for the southern line in exchange for a second Central Western rail line to be constructed linking the Rockhampton hinterland to the coast. The discovery of rich copper deposits at Peak Downs west of Rockhampton strengthened the central Queensland case.
The Rockhampton railway was approved in October 1864. Work commenced in 1865 and the Central Western line (then known as the Great Northern Railway) opened to Westwood in September 1867. A two-storeyed, prefabricated iron station and goods shed were imported from England and erected at the coastal terminus in Stanley Street, Rockhampton. Wayside stations were established at Gracemere, Stanwell and Westwood. These were of Queensland design and construction.
The line was too short to be profitable and approval for an extension was granted in late 1872, opening to the Dawson River in 1874, Duaringa in 1876, Blackwater (where coal had been discovered) in 1877 and Emerald in 1879. After Bogantungan (1881), the most difficult section was encountered – the ascent of the Drummond Range. Longreach, the western terminus of the Central Western Railway, was reached in 1892.
These railway extensions increased rail traffic in Rockhampton, and by the mid-1880s additional administrative offices were needed. In 1884 FWC Kerr, a casual draftsman in the Central and Northern Division of the Chief Engineer for Railways' Office, worked on the plans for a new, substantial brick administration building for Rockhampton. This was constructed in 1886 at the corner of Denison and Stanley streets, diagonally opposite the 1867 station. It was unusual for Queensland Railways to construct a stand-alone brick office building; most of the larger railway office buildings were combined with passenger stations (such as at Roma Street and Central stations in Brisbane and the Townsville railway station) and in other centres tended to be smaller and of timber construction. Offices for a pay clerk were added in 1926.
Until 1982 the building functioned as headquarters for the Central Western Railway and later Central Division, except for a brief period in the late 1890s when Central Division was combined with Southern Division for economic reasons.
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Railway Administration Building, Rockhampton
The Railway Administration Building is a heritage-listed former office building at 233 Denison Street, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1886. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 12 July 2005.
The building was constructed in 1886 to a design prepared in the Office of the Chief Engineer for Railways. Its construction reflects the importance of Rockhampton as the coastal terminus of the Central Western railway line and the important role of the Central Western and North Coast railway lines in opening the Rockhampton hinterland and central western Queensland to settlement and economic exploitation, especially pastoralism and mining, during the last three decades of the 19th century.
The Port Curtis Pastoral District was proclaimed in 1854 following pastoral exploration of the Fitzroy, Dawson and Mackenzie River systems and the Broadsound and Peak Downs areas in the early 1850s. A small settlement was established at Rockhampton in 1856 to service the pastoral properties being taken up in the district, but until the nearby Canoona gold rush of 1858, comprised little more than a few buildings and a small wharf. In 1858 the township of Rockhampton was surveyed, gazetted and proclaimed a port of entry.
A key impetus to the separation of Queensland from New South Wales in 1859 was the complaint that the Sydney-based New South Wales government spent little on transport and communications infrastructure in the northern districts. One of the first agenda items for the Queensland Government was the establishment of a railway system. In 1863 plans were approved for construction of the Southern railway line, a narrow gauge system to link the pastoral properties of the Darling Downs with coastal and international shipping. Although less populated and having a much smaller economic base than the Darling Downs, Port Curtis and Leichhardt district pastoralists argued that a rail link to the coast was essential to develop the area. Their political influence in the Queensland Parliament resulted in a deal being struck: their support for the southern line in exchange for a second Central Western rail line to be constructed linking the Rockhampton hinterland to the coast. The discovery of rich copper deposits at Peak Downs west of Rockhampton strengthened the central Queensland case.
The Rockhampton railway was approved in October 1864. Work commenced in 1865 and the Central Western line (then known as the Great Northern Railway) opened to Westwood in September 1867. A two-storeyed, prefabricated iron station and goods shed were imported from England and erected at the coastal terminus in Stanley Street, Rockhampton. Wayside stations were established at Gracemere, Stanwell and Westwood. These were of Queensland design and construction.
The line was too short to be profitable and approval for an extension was granted in late 1872, opening to the Dawson River in 1874, Duaringa in 1876, Blackwater (where coal had been discovered) in 1877 and Emerald in 1879. After Bogantungan (1881), the most difficult section was encountered – the ascent of the Drummond Range. Longreach, the western terminus of the Central Western Railway, was reached in 1892.
These railway extensions increased rail traffic in Rockhampton, and by the mid-1880s additional administrative offices were needed. In 1884 FWC Kerr, a casual draftsman in the Central and Northern Division of the Chief Engineer for Railways' Office, worked on the plans for a new, substantial brick administration building for Rockhampton. This was constructed in 1886 at the corner of Denison and Stanley streets, diagonally opposite the 1867 station. It was unusual for Queensland Railways to construct a stand-alone brick office building; most of the larger railway office buildings were combined with passenger stations (such as at Roma Street and Central stations in Brisbane and the Townsville railway station) and in other centres tended to be smaller and of timber construction. Offices for a pay clerk were added in 1926.
Until 1982 the building functioned as headquarters for the Central Western Railway and later Central Division, except for a brief period in the late 1890s when Central Division was combined with Southern Division for economic reasons.
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