Chermside & Districts Historical Society

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Chermside & Districts Historical Society

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The Brisbane City Council has defined our boundaries as those of the old Kedron Shire Council.

The Society was established to preserve and develop the history of the local area by researching and recording the stories of the people, indigenous and immigrant, who have lived here, the events that have taken place, when, where and how they occurred, and especially why they occurred here. Our monthly meetings are held on the first Sunday of each month except January. From 2 - 3pm a general meeting is held and we generally have a guest speaker from 3pm. Our building is also open on the 1st Saturday of each month from 2 - 4pm for general research.

04/11/2026

Our open day is this Saturday from 2pm to 4pm. If you want to book a time to get our volunteers' undivided attention, the link is in the comments. Otherwise, just show up and take your chances!

At CDHS we don't just keep a record of what has happened in our area. We also take a look at how things could have turned out differently. This image is an excerpt from the Wilbur Smith Plan of the 1960s. Our HQ at Kittyhawk Drive is approximately where the "B" is.

03/11/2026

We've been mentioned in plenty of news articles, but I'm pretty sure that we've never been in a work of fiction before. Eagle-eyed vice-president Sherry noticed that we make an appearance in Trent Dalton's "Gravity Let Me Go".

If you're interested in donating a diorama of historical Stafford, let us know. We won't even hold it against you if your name isn't Ellis.

30/09/2026

Over 135 years of community building on one site.

Before it was a library site, or even a place to put a community hall, this area was the north-western corner of 64 acres of land (portions 356, 359, 360, and 363, parish of Kedron), with a 640 metre frontage to Zillmere Road.

In late 1889 the School of Arts was built, with its official opening being Saturday 4th January, 1890. It was described as "capable of holding 250 persons ... 50 feet by 24 feet ... constructed of galvinised iron at a cost of about £200".

I'm not sure when the building was first used as a movie theatre. It's listed as such in the land use survey of 1962. I could find applications to use the building to present films in 1946 and 1950.

The library was built in 1971. CDHS has exhibited a collection of our framed historical photographs in the library a few times. The three photos accompanying this post show the library at almost equal intervals. The first (BCC image BCC-C35-149-8A) shows the library in 1975. The second (BCC-C35-00569-15) was taken in 2000. The third was taken yesterday.

29/09/2026

Chermside Olympic Pool in 1964. This excerpt from Brisbane City Council video BCA-AV28 shows the construction and use of the pool. You can see some of the surrounding houses, as well as The Chermside Hospital (formerly the Brisbane Chest Hospital, and later to become The Prince Charles Hospital) in the background.

28/09/2026

This weekend we have plenty going on. On Saturday we have our open day from 2 to 4pm, where you can come and talk history with our president and archivist emeritus. If you want to book a session, you can do so using the link in the comments. If you want to just turn up and browse, feel free, however our volunteers may be busy with others.

On Sunday we have our monthly meeting at 2pm, after which we will be treated to a talk by Henry, president of the Queensland Telecommunications Museum. I've been to the museum several times, most recently with my then five-year-old daughter, and it's been a treat every time. Even if you can't make it to hear Henry talk, you should look into visiting some time. Their website is also in the comments.

We hope to see lots of people on both Saturday and Sunday!

25/09/2026

Two photos, 50 years apart. The first, Brisbane City Council image BCC-C35-401-3A, was taken on the 4th of June, 1976. The second was taken by me this Tuesday.

Brisbane City Council called this the Whites Road Subdivision / Estate, although it is now known as Syma Street. The council owned some (possibly all) of the land, which was offered for auction on the 13th of August 1977. Many lots didn't sell at the auction, and were purchased throughout the following year.

At CDHS, we don't have much information on this part of Chermside West. So if you have anything to share, please place it in the comments.

24/09/2026

The million dollar hole in the ground:

In 2014, I took a photo of six houses towards the top of Latham Street. Chermside was in the middle of an apartment-building boom; you can see two cranes in the distance. These houses, numbers 44 to 56, were to be demolished and replaced by three apartment blocks. Houses numbers 52, 54, and 56 were demolished in November - December 2014, with their replacement, Latham Place (56 apartments over 8 levels) constructed in 2015 and 2016. House number 44 was demolished in May - June 2020. A 5-level, 10 apartment block was built on the site later in 2020.

The middle apartment block still has yet to be built. Houses 46 and 50 were demolished between October 2016 and February 2017. A very deep hole was dug, and (at least superficially) it has stayed the same for the last nine years. The photo of the hole was taken two days ago. Plans for this site have also changed. In 2014, there was an approved plan for 50 apartments over 8 levels. The most recent plan that I've seen is for 126 apartments (mainly of the studio variety) over 9 levels. Being a mid-2020s design, it comes with the almost-obligatory pickleball court on the roof.

Today I went back and recreated the 2014 photo.

For those of you who remember this area in the 1950s - 1970s, the following surnames may be familiar: Allis, Bowes, Campbell, Cowles, Denning, Dougall, Farmer, Frankham, Hume, MacColl.

17/09/2026

Yesterday we featured a Westfield 40th anniversary plaque. Today we're moving on 10 years, to 2007. For their 50th anniversary, Westfield asked us to prepare a time capsule, to be opened in 2057.

I make plenty of mistakes when posting. Some posts are unclear in their meaning, and some are plain wrong. You'll know those from the big "EDIT:" in the correction.

However, if I were to be making a plaque that was going to be around for 50 years, I'd be really careful with my spelling! I don't know who made the plaque, but CDHS just supplied the contents...

There's also a factual error.

16/09/2026

Thousands walk under it every day, but almost nobody would notice a little plaque placed above the entrance to Westfield Chermside's southern food court.

It reads:

In memory of Mr T. J. Weedman
The man who turned a dream into a reality
Opening Australia's first drive-in shopping centre on May 30, 1957

About 10 years ago Westfield donated a travel case belonging to T. J. Weedman to CDHS. It was previously donated to Westfield by the Weste family, who were the Weedmans' neighbours. The case contains Westfield ephemera, including a photo of Myer Staff from 1997.

One of the stranger things in the case is a set of two commemorative metal cups, celebrating 25 years of service to the centre (1957 - 1982) by Nelma Rigby. Why there are two of them, and why they appear not to have been presented, is a mystery.

Is anyone in our collective community a relative or friend of Nelma?

15/09/2026

Have you ever wondered why Western Avenue in Chermside isn't the westernmost road in its little group? Maybe it's only me, but it seemed a little strange.

When the Western-Zenith-Kelso set of roads were built as part of an estate in around 1927, it WAS the westernmost road (first map, from 1955). It was only later, between 1955 and 1957, that Curwen Terrace curved around to Hamilton Road (second map, from 1963). Both of the images are cropped from the 20-chain maps, sheet 2535.

Incidentally, Kelso Street wasn't always so named. It was originally Victor Avenue. It was renamed in 1932 or 1933 do the confusion between it and Victor Drive, also in Chermside. Victor Drive was later renamed Kidston Terrace, and now we don't have any roads named Victor in Chermside...

Address

61 Kittyhawk Drive
Chermside, QLD
4032

Website

http://chermsidedistrict.org.au/

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