Bowen Hills Brisbane, Queensland |
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The Old Museum, former home of the Queensland Museum and later, home of many community groups including the Queensland Youth Orchestras
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Coordinates | 27°26′35.5″S 153°2′18.2″E / 27.443194°S 153.038389°ECoordinates: 27°26′35.5″S 153°2′18.2″E / 27.443194°S 153.038389°E | ||||||||||||
Population | 1,744 (2011 census) | ||||||||||||
• Density | 1,026/km2 (2,660/sq mi) | ||||||||||||
Postcode(s) | 4006 | ||||||||||||
Area | 1.7 km2 (0.7 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
LGA(s) |
City of Brisbane (Central Ward) |
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State electorate(s) | Brisbane Central | ||||||||||||
Federal Division(s) | Brisbane | ||||||||||||
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Bowen Hills is an inner suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, located 3 km (1.86 miles) northeast of the Brisbane CBD. It was named after a Governor of Queensland, Sir George Ferguson Bowen. At the 2011 Australian Census the suburb recorded a population of 1,744.
Bowen Hills was occupied by the indigenous Turrbal people, who named the higher parts Barrambin meaning windy place because they caught the breezes. It was one of the main campsites for the region, part of the Spring Hill, City area, where on occasions 700 to 1000 people were camped, including Brisbane locals, groups from Ipswich, the Tweed Valley, Wivenhoe, Rosewood, Logan, Stradbroke, North Pine and beyond.
The area now occupied by the grounds of the Brisbane Exhibition Ground and Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital was named Walan (Woolan), meaning Bream (fish). Early European settlement named the area York's Hollow "...which was all wild bush, and was a great fighting ground for the blacks". Barrambin was an important location for "kippa-ring" or initiation ceremony. Tribes from the coast would travel here to have their "kippa's" (young men) initiated.
The Queensland Acclimatisation Society occupied Bowen Park in 1862, the area later known as the RNA Exhibition Grounds and home to the Brisbane Ekka.
In 1866 Bowen Hills was defined as a postal district. Settlement increased in the 1870s. A post office was opened in 1878. The train station was opened in 1882.
In 1886, William Perry, a local businessman, built Miegunyah House. The gracious Victorian era home remains intact today as a museum hosting historical talks and themed exhibitions.
In the mid-twentieth century Bowen Hills was well known as the location of the Cloudland dance hall. Cloudland's domed structure on top of a hill was a prominent landmark on Brisbane's northside. Cloudland was controversially demolished in 1982 to make way for an apartment development.