Wharf Street Shop, Maryborough

Wharf Street Shop, Maryborough
Location of Wharf Street Shop, Maryborough in Queensland
Location 134 Wharf Street, Maryborough, Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia
Coordinates 25°32′18″S 152°42′16″E / 25.5382°S 152.7044°E / -25.5382; 152.7044Coordinates: 25°32′18″S 152°42′16″E / 25.5382°S 152.7044°E / -25.5382; 152.7044
Design period 1840s - 1860s (mid-19th century)
Built 1869
Official name: Shop, 134 Wharf Street, Maryborough, Shop, Wharf Street
Type state heritage (built)
Designated 21 October 1992
Reference no. 600720
Significant period 1860s (fabric)
Significant components toilet block/earth closet/water closet

Whart Street Shop is a heritage-listed shop at 134 Wharf Street, Maryborough, Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1869. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.[1]

History

The shop at 134 Wharf Street was built in 1869 as one of three shops [2] in the midst of the wharf precinct of the Port of Maryborough.[1]

Settlement at Maryborough commenced in September 1847 when George Furber established a woolstore on the south bank of the Mary River at the head of navigation. He was followed in June 1848 by ET Aldridge and Henry and RE Palmer, who established their own wharves on the opposite riverbank, at a location now known as the original Maryborough town site at Baddow. In 1850 a new town site was surveyed to the east, at a downstream position which provided better access for shipping. The first sale of land at this new site occurred in 1852, but most residents did not shift to the current centre of Maryborough until 1855 and 1856. Maryborough was gazetted a Port of Entry in 1859 and was proclaimed a municipality (the Borough of Maryborough) in 1861. [3] During the 1860s and 1870s it flourished as the principal port for the nearby Gympie goldfield and as an outlet for timber and sugar. The establishment of manufacturing plants and primary industries sustained growth in the town into the twentieth century.[1]

The small building was originally one of three identical shops with shingle roofs adjoining one another in a row fronting Wharf Street. The other two were located on its eastern side where a small office building is presently located. It is not known whether remnants of the former shops exist under the facade of this building.[1]

The shop at 134 Wharf Street has always been used for small business purposes and has changed hands many times. It continues to operate as a retail store.[1]

Description

The building at 134 Wharf Street is a simple one-storeyed, rendered brick building with a steeply pitched hipped roof clad with corrugated metal sheeting. A small awning at the front of the building is incorporated into the principal roof and is supported on timber brackets. According to the reports of local people there is a shingle roof extant underneath the corrugated iron.[1]

The frontage of the shop consists of a large glass window on the western side with the entrance, a double, panelled, timber door accessed by two steps, on the eastern side. The front door has a large fanlight above with vertical iron security bars. The front portion of the interior is one large, open, room. A brick extension at the rear of the building is accessed by a narrow hall along the eastern side which leads off to two rooms to the right and then to the rear exit door.[1]

The shop is abutted by a lowset brick office building to the eastern side and is bounded by a driveway to the western side which leads around to the back of the building where two external toilets are situated. At the rear of the building the land backs on to the back blocks of other properties creating what looks like a common space.[1]

The building is of a simple construction with no decorative features.[1]

Heritage listing

The shop at 134 Wharf Street was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992 having satisfied the following criteria.[1]

The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history.

The shop is important as one of the earliest surviving shops in the Wharf Street area, predating the late nineteenth century development which saw many of the earlier structures enlarged. It demonstrates the early development of the commercial precinct which occurred in response to the establishment of the port in the Mary River near Wharf Street.[1]

The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places.

The design of the shop is characteristic of mid-nineteenth century shop design, with entrance door and window on the principal facade.[1]

The place is important because of its aesthetic significance.

The shop has aesthetic value for its contribution to the character of Wharf Street which is made up of many 19th century commercial and public buildings creating a coherent streetscape.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Shop, 134 Wharf Street, Maryborough (entry 600720)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  2. - Jan Downman citing Maryborough Chronicle 12 June 1869.
  3. - Extracted from the Walker's Shipyard history prepared by Brian Sinclair [Reported Place in CHIMS, Site ID 31936].

Attribution

This Wikipedia article was originally based on "The Queensland heritage register" published by the State of Queensland under CC-BY 3.0 AU licence (accessed on 7 July 2014, archived on 8 October 2014). The geo-coordinates were originally computed from the "Queensland heritage register boundaries" published by the State of Queensland under CC-BY 3.0 AU licence (accessed on 5 September 2014, archived on 15 October 2014).

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, March 05, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.