Fortitude Valley

Fortitude Valley Brisbane, Queensland
Looking through to St Patricks Catholic Church in Fortitude Valley with the Brisbane CBD in the background
Population	5,615 (2011 census)
• Density	4,010/km2 (10,400/sq mi)
Established	1887
Postcode(s)	4006
Area	1.4 km2 (0.5 sq mi)
Location	1 km (1 mi) from Brisbane CBD
LGA(s)	City of Brisbane (Central Ward)
County	Stanley
Parish	North Brisbane
State electorate(s)	Brisbane Central
Federal Division(s)	Brisbane
Suburbs around Fortitude Valley: Spring Hill Bowen Hills Newstead Spring Hill Fortitude Valley Teneriffe Brisbane CBD Brisbane River Kangaroo Point New Farm

Fortitude Valley (also known simply as "The Valley") is a suburb of central Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. The suburb lies immediately northeast of the Brisbane central business district, and is one of the hubs of Brisbane's nightlife, renowned for its nightclubs, bars and adult entertainment. At the 2011 Australian Census Fortitude Valley recorded a population of 5,615. In the 1950s, the suburb was the largest shopping precinct outside of a central business district in Australia.

Scottish immigrants from the ship SS Fortitude arrived in Brisbane in 1849, enticed by Rev Dr John Dunmore Lang on the promise of free land grants. Denied land, the immigrants set up camp in York's Hollow waterholes in the vicinity of today's Victoria Park, Herston, Queensland. A number of the immigrants moved on and settled the suburb, naming it after the ship on which they arrived. A post office was established in 1887.

1891 saw the train line extended from the Brisbane central business district (the area around Queen Street) into Fortitude Valley, and Thomas Beirne opened a business on Brunswick Street. His business thrived and, after extension, he travelled to England in 1896, leaving his manager of two years, James McWhirter, in charge. Soon after his return, McWhirter established a competing drapery business opposite Beirne's in 1898. Beirne and McWhirter became keen rivals and are credited with establishing the Valley as a hub of commerce from the late 1890s.

In the late 19th century, commercial activities in Brisbane were divided along religious lines, with Protestant shopkeepers setting up along Queen and Adelaide Streets in the central business district, and shops operated by Roman Catholics in Stanley Street, South Brisbane. However, in the 1893 Brisbane flood (and again in 1897), major floods wiped out many shops in South Brisbane, and owners in that area decided to move and set up operations north of the river in an area free of flooding. The area they chose was Fortitude Valley. By that time Brisbane's horse-drawn tram system already centered on Fortitude Valley, making it the logical choice to establish a shopping precinct.