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.

Book Review: Asleep in the Deep

Review by Liz Downes:

Staring from the cover of Trisha Fielding’s latest book, Asleep in the Deep, is the face of a young man seemingly gazing with confidence into his future. It is perhaps with the benefit of hindsight that we  detect the vulnerability of youth in his wide eyes and smooth complexion, for the subtitle warns us that in fact his future was tragically short.  Clifford (Cliff) O’Brien was among the 122 souls lost in one of Australia’s worst peacetime maritime disasters: the wreck of the SS Yongala in March 1911.

Townsville Museum President Trish Cronin (left) with author Trisha Fielding (right) at the launch of Asleep in the Deep: a love lost on the SS Yongala. Photo: Wendy Simpkins.

 
The impact of the Yongala tragedy was huge throughout Queensland and beyond, but was especially felt in the north which was home to many of the passengers. Most notable was the Rooney family, Matthew Rooney being a well-known Townsville builder. Among many other northerners were a mother and son from Charters Towers, the matron of Townsville’s hospital and, perhaps most poignantly, a Cairns mother and her four children, one of them just six weeks old.

 
Yet, while we may know their names and a few limited details of their lives, from this distance in time it is hard to fully appreciate the extent of the emotional burden borne by their bereaved families. We might imagine the alternating dread and hope that filled those early days when the ship’s fate was still unknown. We might contemplate the strain of never knowing exactly what had happened or where in the ocean one’s loved ones lay, despite extensive searches and enquiries. But the immediacy of that grief and strain is lost.

Composite portrait of Clifford and Georgina O'Brien. 
Photographed in 2022 by Trisha Fielding [from an original held by Townsville Museum]

It is this gap that a recently discovered diary helps to fill, greatly enhanced by Trisha’s skillful and sensitive interpretation. The ‘diary’ (too weighty to be termed a scrapbook) was sent anonymously to the Townsville Museum nearly four years ago.  Compiled by Cliff’s widow, Georgina, a collection of carefully pasted telegrams, letters, newspaper articles and photographs, document her anxiety and desperation in those early days and, as time passed, her dogged attempts to record all developments in the subsequent search for answers. Through her thoughtful interrogation of the diary, Trisha allows us to experience something of Georgina’s agony as she progressed from confusion and uncertainty to shock, grief and a lifetime of searching for the truth.

Townsville Museum & Historical Society President Trish Cronin (left) with Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill (right), at the launch of Asleep in the Deep: a love lost on the SS Yongala, by Trisha Fielding.
Photo: Wendy Simpkins.

There are many touching inclusions, such as the letter from Cliff’s own father to Georgina’s, mourning the loss of his “beloved boy” while generously recognizing that it is on Georgina that “the blow falls with the fullest force”. Equally moving is Georgina’s strong desire to have Cliff’s status as the father of their unborn child openly acknowledged, demonstrated by the steps she took to ensure this was recorded on his death certificate.

Intriguingly Trisha’s skills as a historian, and her eye for detail, allowed her to pick up those little clues – a choice of words, things said or unsaid, a significant absence or pertinent date – which reveal an intriguing back story to this tragically brief marriage: a marriage which seems to have begun under a cloud of scandal and family estrangement. Yet it is comforting to find that, in Georgina’s worst hours, her family were there to support her through those first dark days and the long years which she devoted to her husband’s memory and their daughter’s future. 

Trisha’s own meticulous photography of items in the diary greatly enhances the visual appeal of her book and the sense of an historical archive revealed. I closed Asleep in the Deep with the feeling that Georgina would be both proud and content at the way her century-old story has been presented for a modern audience.

Liz Downes
James Cook University Library Special Collections Volunteer

Book details:

Title: Asleep in the Deep: a love lost on the SS Yongala
Author: Trisha Fielding
Publisher: Townsville Museum and Historical Society, 2022
ISBN: 9780646858975
Other: 43 pages : illustrations, portraits ; 297mm x 210mm (portrait)

Where you can get a copy:

Price: $20

Available exclusively from the Townsville Museum and Historical Society