A Whistle-stop Tour of Art Deco in North Queensland

North Queensland is home to dozens of fabulous examples of Art Deco buildings. Innisfail and Mackay both have the largest concentrations of Art Deco, and as a consequence, tend to get the most attention, but other cities have beautiful examples too. Here's a look at a small selection of buildings that I've photographed (and fell in love with!) in the past couple of years. 

Shire Hall, Innisfail, 2021. Photo: Trisha Fielding.

Barron Valley Hotel - Atherton

Designed by the architectural firm of Hill & Taylor, this two-storey brick hotel was built in 1938. It replaced the timber hotel (of the same name). It is notable for its original Art Deco features and styling.

Fireplace in the dining room of the Barron Valley Hotel, Atherton, 2021. Photo: Trisha Fielding.

Barron Valley Hotel, Atherton, 2021. Photo: Trisha Fielding.

Interior, Barron Valley Hotel, Atherton, 2021. Photo: Trisha Fielding.

Interior - Barron Valley Hotel, Atherton, 2021. Photo: Trisha Fielding.

Shire Hall - Innisfail

Built in the 1930s, the monumental Shire Hall in Innisfail totally dominates the streetscape. Completed in 1938, it was constructed by the Van Leeuwen brothers. Sadly, one of the brothers, Bill, died in an accident on site during construction the previous year. This three-storey building, built of reinforced concrete, was designed by architects Hill & Taylor. Three shire halls had existed on this site before this one was erected - and all had been destroyed by fire.

Upper level detail, Shire Hall, Innisfail, 2021. Photo: Trisha Fielding.

Street view, Shire Hall, Innisfail, 2021. Photo: Trisha Fielding.

Former Blue Bird Cafe - Innisfail

Built in 1936, to replace an earlier timber cafe, this building featured a cafe at street level and a dance hall/function room on the upper level.

Upper level detail, former Blue Bird Cafe, Innisfail, 2021. Photo: Trisha Fielding.

Former Plaza Theatre - Tully

Built in 1940 and officially opened in December, this building replaced an earlier picture theatre on this site that had been destroyed by fire in June of that year.

Former Plaza Theatre, Tully, 2021. Photo: Trisha Fielding.

St. Monica's High School - Cairns

Built in the Moderne style of architecture, this building for St. Monica's High School in Abbott Street, Cairns, opened in 1941. Designed by architect V.M. Brown, the reinforced concrete building has a minimum of decoration, but features the sweeping horizontal lines and curves characteristic of the style. Brown's design allowed for a future third storey to be added, though this never eventuated. The building now serves as the school's administration block.

St. Monica's High School, Cairns, 2021. Photo: Trisha Fielding.

Town Hall - Ravenshoe

Designed in 1954 by architects Sidney Barnes and Edwin (Eddie) Oribin, this Art Deco gem is a delightful surprise, hidden away in Ravenshoe - Queensland's highest town.

Town Hall, Ravenshoe, 2021. Photo: Trisha Fielding.

Moduline building - Ingham

I don't actually know what this building was originally, but it's got some lovely Art Deco lines.

Moduline building, Ingham. Photo: Trisha Fielding.

Former Pacific Ice Cream building - Townsville

This building facade dates to the late 1930s. I'm yet to find out who designed (or built) this building, but I suspect it may have been architect A.V.H. Needham, as he was active in Townsville at this time. I'd be happy to hear from anyone who knows more! I do know that there was originally a clock on the front of this building, and permission for this had to be obtained from the local council first.

Former Pacific Ice Cream building, Flinders Street, Townsville,  2021. Photo: Trisha Fielding.

Please note, I have not deliberately left out Mackay and it's fabulous Art Deco buildings, it's just that I have not yet been able to visit and photograph any of them myself. If you're interested in checking out what's in Mackay, I recommend you visit this site: https://www.mackayartdeco.org

And one last Honourable mention...

North Gregory Hotel - Winton

Okay, so this is not technically within the geographical (latitudinal) boundaries of what is considered to be "North Queensland", but this is too beautiful a building to leave it out of this post. 

Interior of the North Gregory Hotel, Winton, 2021. Photo: Trisha Fielding.

Malanda Milk - a household name

For many decades the name Malanda Milk was a household name in north Queensland, as it supplied milk to thirsty Townsville residents who at one time consumed almost half of the company’s total output.



Milk being bottled at the Malanda Milk Depot in Garbutt, Townsville, c.1957.
Photo by Fred Carew, held by CityLibraries Townsville Local History Collection.

Curiously, it was the influx of tens of thousands of American soldiers during World War II in Townsville that was the catalyst for its success.  Up until then, milk in Townsville was sourced from local dairies, but when Townsville’s population swelled from 30,000 to nearly 100,000 in 1942 as the city became a staging point for the allied war effort in the Pacific; local resources just would not stretch far enough.

As well as the enormous increase in demand, American soldiers demanded that they be supplied with pasteurised milk, when Townsville dairies were still only supplying raw milk to locals.

Farmers with dairy herds on the Atherton Tablelands were able to capitalise on this demand quite quickly, even though butter had previously been the only product produced in bulk by the Tableland dairies.  Pasteurised milk from 350 dairy herds began to be delivered to Townsville on a regular basis, satisfying both the locals, and the city’s military visitors.

The Atherton Tableland Cooperative Dairy Association Ltd - which came to be known throughout north Queensland as Malanda Milk - became so successful that in 1953 Malanda Milk was reputed to have the longest milk run in the world.  Tankers transported milk by road from the Tablelands down the Palmerston Highway to Townsville and from there it went to Cloncurry, Tennant Creek, Alice Springs, Katherine, Darwin and Wyndham.

A special advertising feature in the Townsville Daily Bulletin in October 1984 promoted Malanda Milk’s new $3 million milk-packaging plant as one of Queensland’s largest, and most modern.

The size of the cold storage area had been increased and dispatch facilities were improved to ensure that dairy products reached consumers in “perfect condition.”  The new cold rooms covered 950 square metres of floor space.

The massive demand for fresh, pasteurised milk had a flow-on effect to other industries as well.  Arthur and Eileen Battle built their Norgate Transport business on the back of the success of Malanda Milk.  In 1984 their fleet of nine, insulated milk tankers carried over 20,000 litres of milk to the Townsville factory on a daily basis.

The Bulletin described the Battles’ use of insulated tankers as, “a marvellous advance on the tin cans packed with ice on the rail overnight from Innisfail.”

The milk tankers may have been a “marvellous” improvement to the former system of transporting milk, but the big tankers still encountered many pitfalls.  In the early 1950s, when the Battles began carting milk to Townsville, 40 per cent of the Palmerston Highway was still unsealed and flooding during the wet season often threatened to disrupt supply.

According to the Bulletin, “Often the big trucks got bogged to their axles and there were times that Mr Len Nolan, the production manager of the Townsville factory, would walk across a submerged wooden bridge near Halifax to pilot the tankers across.”

The Bulletin reported that Arthur Battle’s slogan might well have been: “The milk must go through”.