Lost Faces of Warwick

FLOODS

Warwick has flooded many times, but until the flood of 1976, the event of January 1887 held the record as the highest in the entire recorded history of Warwick*.

The 1887 flood provided one of the most famous historic photographs of the town in flood. Now in the collection of the State Library of Queensland, it shows Albion St, looking north from the intersection with Fitzroy St. 

1887 flood (from cnr Albion & Fitzroy Sts)

The flood caused a great deal of damage and loss of life. On 26 January, The Warwick Examiner and Times reported: 'From the junction of the Albion and Fitzroy Streets and thence eastward ... the whole country was nothing but one mass of turbulent water, threatening destruction in every roar which in itself was unpleasant to hear...'

Men on horseback riding along Albion St during the 1893 flood. 

Buildings on the right are the Post and Telegraph Building and J.E.Conley's store.

The store was established by Russell Wilkins in 1875 as the Telegraph Stores 

then extended and renamed Telegraph Row in 1878.

OFFICIAL BUILDINGS in ALBION STREET

Land in Albion St was set aside for Warwick's first Post and Telegraph Office and Court House when the township was first surveyed. 

Albion St, looking northwards, in 1875, showing (from foreground) the Court House and Land Court, 

the first Post and Telegraph Office, and Russell Wilkins's Telegraph Stores.

POST OFFICE

The Post and Telegraph Office opened in 1870, but in 1891, following repeated floods, land on the corner of Palmerin and Grafton Sts was purchased by the government as a new site. 

Warwick Post and Telegraph Office, Albion St in 1875

 The relocation came after many years of public discussion and debate about other possible sites, including the old Court House - a very unpopular proposal, as can be seen from the 1896 article below.

 

The new Post Office building in Saracenic** style, was built of sandstone quarried at Yangan and was completed in 1898. It opened for business in March 1899. Stone from the old Post and Telegraph Office in Albion St was used in constructing additions to the Warwick Hospital in 1934.

New Warwick Post and Telegraph Office, cnr Palmerin & Grafton Sts, 1899

COURT HOUSE

The original Warwick Court House and Land Court was built in 1862-1863 on the corner of Albion and Fitzroy Sts. It had verandas on all four sides until 1875-6, when the front veranda was removed and a sandstone extension was added, facing Albion St, to provide rooms for the jury, the land agent, map storage and drafting, and a new veranda. (See below.) The building remained in use until it was condemned in 1924 but a new Court House was built in 1886 at the corner of Fitzroy and Guy Streets.

The extended Court House in 1875, cnr Albion & Fitzroy Sts

In 1887, the newspaper did not hold back in its assessment of the significance of the relocation to higher ground.   

The 1886 Court House, cnr Fitzroy & Guy Sts

* Flood records for Warwick extend back as far as 1887 and indicate that the city has a long history of flooding from the Condamine River. The highest recorded flood occurred in February 1976 when the river rose to a height of 9.10 metres on the Warwick flood gauge located at McCahon Bridge. The flood caused widespread flooding in the Warwick area with newspapers at the time reporting damage to over 100 homes and over 1000 people left homeless during the flood. The most recent major flood events occurred two weeks apart in December 2010 and January 2011. (http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/condamine_warwick/condamine_warwick.shtml#PreviousFlooding)

** 'Saracenic' refers to Islamic architecture consisting chiefly of mosques and tombs and characterized by decorated surfaces, bulbous domes, and horseshoe, pointed, and multifoil arches (Mirriam-Webster). The Post Office was designed by Alfred Barton Brady, the Queensland Government Architect at the time. It is not known why he chose this style.