Bowen Hills is an inner north-eastern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Bowen Hills had a population of 4,898 people.
Before white settlement Bowen Hills was occupied by the indigenous Chepara people including the Brisbane, Ipswich and southern Jagera people. The higher parts were named Barrambin meaning windy place because they caught the breezes. It was one of the main campsites for the region, part of the Spring Hill, City area, where on occasions 700 to 1000 people were camped, including Brisbane locals, groups from Ipswich, the Tweed Valley, Wivenhoe, Rosewood, Logan, Stradbroke, North Pine and beyond.
The area now occupied by the grounds of the Brisbane Exhibition Ground and Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital was named Walan (Woolan), meaning Bream (fish). The area of the present main Ekka oval was a "great fighting ground for the blacks" . Barrambin was an important location for "kippa-ring" or initiation ceremony. Tribes from the coast would travel here to have their "kippa's" (young men) initiated. Early European settlement named the area beside Gilchrist Avenue York's Hollow.
The suburb was named after Queensland Governor Sir George Ferguson Bowen.
The locality of Mayne is named after alderman Patrick Mayne.
The Queensland Acclimatisation Society occupied Bowen Park in 1862, the area later known as the RNA Exhibition Grounds and home to the Brisbane Ekka, although part of it still remains as parkland.
In 1866 Bowen Hills was defined as a postal district. Settlement increased in the 1870s. A post office was opened in 1878. The train station was opened in 1882.
In 1886, William Perry, a local businessman, built Miegunyah House. The gracious Victorian era home remains intact today as a museum hosting historical talks and themed exhibitions.
Our Lady of Victories' Primary School opened on 13 November 1921 and closed in 1966.
From 1924 until the 1970s, the Queensland Branch of the Australasian Trained Nurses Association (ATNA) operated a home for retired invalid members at 'Pymore', Mallon Street.
In the mid-twentieth century Bowen Hills was well known as the location of the Cloudland dance hall. Cloudland's domed structure on top of a hill was a prominent landmark on Brisbane's northside. Cloudland was controversially demolished in 1982 to make way for an apartment development.
From 1950 until 1972, owners Brian and Marjorie Johnstone operated the Johnstone Gallery in Cintra Road, Bowen Hills. The gallery was the driving force behind building an appreciation of contemporary Australian art in Brisbane and beyond, arguably Australia's most famous commercial gallery of the time. Owners Brian and Marjorie Johnstone created a focal point of Brisbane's cultural and social life, with their Sunday exhibition openings featuring leading Australian artists such as Sir Sidney Nolan, Robert Dickerson, Lawrence Daws, Margaret Olley, Charles Blackman, Ray Crooke, Arthur Boyd, Donald Friend, Laurence Hope. Their collection documenting the success of their gallery is now held by the State Library of Queensland and in 2021 it was added to UNESCO's Australian Memory of the World Register.
In the 1960s, Queensland Newspapers built its headquarters at Campbell Street Bowen Hills having previously operated out of Adelaide Street.
Bowen Hills Special School opened in January 1986 and closed on 11 December 1987.
In the 2010s, a number of new residential apartment complexes were constructed in the area, with a range of retail outlets built to cater to Brisbane's growing population.
In the 2016 census, Bowen Hills recorded a population of 3,226 people, 45.6% women and 54.4% men. The median age of the Bowen Hills population was 30 years of age, 8 years below the Australian median. 49.0% of people were born in Australia. The next most common country of birth was New Zealand at 3.9%. 59.5% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 4.8% and Spanish 3.2%. The most common response for religion was No Religion at 38.3%.
In the 2021 census, Bowen Hills had a population of 4,898 people.
History info courtesy of Wikipedia
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