Museum of Brisbane: Is it worth visiting Brisbane City Hall?
To learn about the history of Brisbane, pay a visit to Brisbane City Hall. Here the Museum of Brisbane does a decent job of explaining the Queensland capital’s past.
Of Australia’s capital cities, Brisbane is the one that seems least interested in its past. Plenty of colonial architecture can be found in Sydney, and Adelaide brims with heritage buildings. But the Queensland capital has ham-fistedly erased most of its past. This is a public art-filled city more interested in shipping container food experiences, koala cuddles and rock-climbing on cliffs than history.
The Museum of Brisbane
But if you’re more interested in the history of Brisbane than the city is, the Museum of Brisbane should be the first stop. It’s inside the City Hall, which was a mammoth statement of intent when it as finished in 1930. At the time, it was second only to the Sydney Harbour Bridge in terms of building spend.
9 brilliant Brisbane experiences to book in advance
- Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary tickets (or entry plus river cruise combo) – hold a koala and see lots of adorable native wildlife.
- Brisbane River cruise – see the key sights and learn about the city on the way.
- Story Bridge Adventure Climb – walk along the top of Brisbane’s famous bridge, with 360 degree views.
- Combine the Southbank Parklands, City Botanic Gardens and Kangaroo Point Cliffs on a fun Segway tour.
- Helicopter flight – see the city from a bird’s eye view.
- Kayaking tour – choose the night tour to see the city light up, the day tour to enjoy the sunshine.
- XXXX brewery tour – see how Australia’s most famous beer is made.
- Guided wine flight tasting – get an Aussie wine introductory course.
- See Brisbane’s spooky side on a city centre ghost tour.
The cathedral-esque clocktower, featuring what were Australia’s largest clock faces, stretched up 92m, making the City Hall Brisbane’s tallest building until 1967. It was also completely outsized for what was effectively little more than a large country town at the time.
The Museum of Brisbane tells Brisbane’s potted history, which started in 1823 when John Oxley discovered and named the Brisbane River. The 1822 Bigge Report had recommended a new penal colony far from Sydney to reinstate the punishment of transportation as ‘an object of terror’. And what Oxley had discovered seemed about right. The initial settlement was made at Redcliffe in 1824, but it moved to the banks of the Brisbane River in 1825. There wouldn’t be a bridge built across it for another 40 years.
6 supreme Brisbane day trips that will improve your holiday
- Moreton Island day trip – with kayaking, sandboarding and snorkelling or with dolphin-feeding and desert dunes adventure.
- Springbrook National Park glowworms and rainforest tour – including Tamborine Skywalk.
- Eumundi Markets day trip – Australia’s best markets, plus the Sunshine Coast Hinterland and Noosa.
- North Stradbroke Island day tour – with cruise, wildlife spotting and guided walk.
- Tamborine Mountain winery tour – with gourmet lunch.
- Maialia rainforest walking and wildlife tour – visit lesser-known D’Aguilar National Park.
Indigenous history of Brisbane
The Museum also shows how so much of what Brisbane is about is tied to the river. For the local Aboriginal tribes, the city centre would be a meeting place on neutral ground, where weapons would be put down once a year to meet and share knowledge. And once Europeans arrived, different industries established themselves along different reaches of the river. It was sugar at New Farm, meat at Pinkenba and wool at Teneriffe, while immigrants were inducted at Kangaroo Point.
As museums go, the Museum of Brisbane is inessentially pleasant. But it does cover a side of the city that has been perplexingly well hidden.
More Australian History
If the Museum of Brisbane whets your appetite for Australian history, check out the Top Ten Australian Historic Sites.