Nundah, Queensland

German mission

The first permanent European settlement in the area was a mission built in 1838 by German Moravian missionaries,^[15] under the guidance of Reverend Carl Wilhelm Schmidt and later Reverend Christoph Eipper with the aim of bringing Christianity to the local Aboriginal people.^[16][17] They first called the area "Zion",^[6] and the mission was located in the vicinity of the modern-day street "Walkers Way".^[18] It later became "German Station". The explorer Dr. Ludwig Leichhardt visited the area in 1843, and spoke very highly of the mission, but despite this the mission met with limited success and was closed at the behest of the colonial government in 1846.^[17] This first settlement is nonetheless commemorated with a monument at the corner of Sandgate Road and Wood Street unveiled in 1938 by the then Premier of Queensland William Forgan Smith. The names of these German settlers can be seen in the names of streets in Nundah and surrounding suburbs such as Rode Road and Gerler Road.

Growth of the village of German Station

A prominent local citizen who contributed significantly to the development of the village of German Station was George Bridges (1820–1898). George and his young family immigrated from Wilstead, Bedfordshire, England to Queensland in 1852 aboard the "Marie Somes". In 1855, he acquired 64 acres (26 ha) of land north of Buckland Road and east of Sandgate Road for farming. However, as Sandgate became an increasingly popular holiday destination, the increasing volume of coach traffic along Sandgate Road encouraged him to open a hotel in 1866,^[19] which became a popular stop being roughly halfway between Brisbane and Sandgate. The first hotel was called the Kedron Hotel but the third and longest-running hotel was known as the Kedron Brook Hotel and was located alongside Sandgate Road (now Bage Street, named after Freda Bage, first principal of The Women's College, University of Queensland^[20]) on the SW corner of his property. Emboldened by the success of his hotel ventures, George Bridges looked for other commercial opportunities. He observed that Sandgate Road at that time did a dog-leg around the SW corner of his property (along Buckland Road) which forced traffic to travel up and over Donkin's Hill. So he created a short-cut across the SW corner of his property that avoided the hill, which was much appreciated by the travellers, allowing George Bridges to sell off parcels of land along this new unofficial piece of Sandgate Road to commercial enterprises, which serviced both the travellers and the local farming community. This unofficial short-cut grew into the Nundah Village shopping street that exists today and eventually became the official route of Sandgate Road. Around 1872, George and his wife Mary retired to Burpengary and began to progressively sell off the land of their German Station property as the village developed.

Creation of the suburb of Nundah

A call for tenders for a non-denominational chapel in German Station was advertised in July 1855 .^[21] The chapel was open for Christian services on Thursday 6 December 1855.^[22] About February 1859 the chapel was acquired by the Baptists; the Wesleyans had first right of refusal but did not purchase it.^[23] The Baptists held their opening services on Sunday 20 February 1859.^[24] In 1874 it was relocated to Hendra to become the Baptist Church there, as many Baptists in Nundah had moved to the Hendra area.^[25]

On Sunday 24 April 1859, the Wesleyan congregation opened their recently-erected chapel.^[26]

German Station State School opened on 2 October 1865 and was renamed Nundah State School in 1895.^[27][28]

German Station remained an agricultural area until the 1880s. In 1881, Queensland State Government purchased a strip of land across George Bridges's property to build a railway link between Brisbane and Sandgate. The railway opened in 1882 and resulted in a suburban residential construction boom on Brisbane's northside.^[5] This urban sprawl was also encouraged by the Undue Subdivision of Land Prevention Act 1885, which mandated minimum lot sizes for new urban developments.^[29] The village of German Station became known as a location where working-class families could obtain cheap housing on reasonably sized lots not too far from the city. George Bridges sold off his remaining land for residential development in the new suburb.

A railway station called German was created in 1882 (again on land originally owned by George Bridges), because they wanted the station to be called German Station rather than German Station Station.^[30] However, six weeks after the railway station opened, it was renamed Nundah.^[31] The name Nundah is a corruption of the Yuggera language, Turrbal dialect word nanda meaning chain of water holes.^[4][32][33] This name is probably a reference to the nearby natural water sources at Kedron Brook and the marshy areas formerly to the east of the suburb.^[34] In 1888, the name of the Post Office was also changed to Nundah,^[35] signalling the renaming of the new suburb. However, the name German Station persisted for many years. For many years it was common to find references to Nundah with the annotation "formerly German Station" in newspapers and advertisements, until the name Nundah was well established.

In 1883, William Alexander Jenyns Boyd relocated his Eton Preparatory School from Milton (where it was established in 1877^[36]) to Nundah, where he erected new buildings at a cost of £3,000 on a 10-acre (4.0 ha) site.^[37] In 1889 Boyd was forced to close the school due to economic hardships preventing families being able to afford to send their sons to boarding school, but he re-opened the school in 1891. However the impacts of the 1893 Brisbane flood forced him to close the school permanently.^[38][39] In June 1893 the Sisters of the Society of the Sacred Advent acquired Eton House to run a boarding school for orphan girls called The Home of the Good Shepherd,^[40][41] which in 1894 also took in paying students as well with Miss Isabelle Caine as headmistress under the management of Sister Emma.^[42][43] In 1897 the orphans were relocated to Ormiston Place, leaving Eton House as a private boarding school known as the Eton High School for Girls.^[44][45] In 1907, the school relocated to Toorak House in Hamilton^[46] and then in 1910 to Albion Heights (now Ascot) where it is known as St Margaret's Anglican Girls' School.^[47] In 1907 the St Francis Anglican Theological College moved into Eton House under Canon Tomlin.^[48] In 1936-7 the theological college relocated to Bishopsbourne in Milton.^[49] By June 1937, Eton House had been sold for removal and its grounds subdivided,^[50][49][51] but the site is believed to be bounded by Bishop Street, Buckland Road, Wand Street and Olive Street (27.4010°S 153.0524°E / -27.4010; 153.0524 (Eton School / Home of the Good Shepherd)). Boyd Road leads to this area and presumably commemorates Boyd who established the site.^[41]

In 1889, the Baptist church building at Fortescue Street in Spring Hill (built in 1876) was relocated to Nundah (now 19 Chapel Street, 27.4025°S 153.0594°E / -27.4025; 153.0594 (Nundah Baptist church (1889))).^[52][53][54] The Nundah Baptist Church officially opened on Sunday 9 June 1889.^[55] The church building is still extant, although modified and no longer owned by the Baptist church; one of its subsequent uses was as the Anglican Church of the Resurrection.^[56][57]

From 1890, Nundah was the seat of the Shire of Toombul, which was absorbed into the City of Greater Brisbane in 1925.^[58][59] The Toombul Shire Hall still exists as a community centre.^[59]

In 1900, Laura Tufnell, the widow of Edward Tufnell (a former Anglican Bishop of Brisbane), donated money to establish an orphanage in her husband's name. The funds were used to purchase 4.5 acres (1.8 ha) of land at 230 Buckland Road (27.4027°S 153.0526°E / -27.4027; 153.0526 (Tufnell Home (former orphanage))).^[60][61] Tufnell Home was established by the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane and operated by the Sisters of the Sacred Advent. It opened on 6 February 1901 and closed in 1993.^[62]

In 1909, Surrey Street in Nundah became the site of the first public housing dwelling in Queensland.^[63] In the early twentieth century, Nundah became a major suburban centre, due to its location on Sandgate Road, one of Brisbane's busiest arterial roads, and the adjacent Nundah railway station. Sandgate Road and nearby streets were lined with shops, pubs, cinemas and other commercial premises.

St Joseph's Convent and School was dedicated and opened on Sunday 16 January 1916 by James Duhig, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Brisbane. The site consisting of Marston House and 3 acres (1.2 ha) of land was donated by Harry Donkin. The Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart came from Sydney the previous week to operate the school. It heralded the welcome return of the order to Brisbane after an absence of 36 years after Archbishop James O'Quinn directed the order to leave his diocese in 1879 following disputes with Mary MacKillop over control of the schools operated by the Sisters.^[64][65]

The Shire of Toombul War Memorial was dedicated by the Governor of Queensland, Matthew Nathan, on 12 November 1921. The memorial commemorates who served in World War I. It is located in Nundah Memorial Park (then known as Buckland Park, 27.402890°S 153.058696°E / -27.402890; 153.058696 (Shire of Toombul War Memorial)).^[66][67]

Nundah Memorial Baptist Church opened in 1923.^[52][68] Construction commenced in April 1923 with a stump-capping ceremony on Saturday 14 April 1923.^[69][70] It was officially opened on Saturday 4 August 1923. It has five memorial windows commemorating soldiers who died in World War I.^[71][72][73] It was built to the west of the 1889 church.^[57]

In November and December 1923, '10 Choice Allotments', were advertised as "Wheeler Estate", to be auctioned by Isles, Love & Co. Limited Auctioneers on 1 December 1923.^{[74][75][76][77]} This estate was bounded by Sandgate Road to the west, by London Street to the east, and Northgate Road to the north.^[78]

In 1926, George Walker suggested a monument be built to mark the beginnings of Nundah, which was unveiled by the Queensland Governor Sir Leslie Orme Wilson on 23 April 1938 as part of the First Free Settlers' Centenary Celebrations. This First Free Settlers Monument is listed in the Queensland Heritage Register.

On Saturday 5 June 1937, College Estate residential subdivision was advertised for public auction by Cameron Brothers auctioneers. It was described as "54 splendid residential sites occupying one of the finest positions in Nundah".^[79][80]

Mount St Joseph's Boarding & Day School for girls opened in 1953. It was operated by Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart. In 1964 it was renamed Corpus Christi College.^[64] In 2009, it was renamed Mary McKillop College to commemorate the 100th anniversary of her death and her canonisation.^[81]

St. George's Anglican Mission Hall in Toombul was dedicated on 11 April 1953 by Archbishop Reginald Halse. Its closure on 28 June 1987 was approved by Assistant Bishop George Browning.^[82]

Nundah Infants State School opened on 24 January 1955, but closed on 3 May 1974, when it was re-integrated into Nundah State School.^[64]

Northgate State School opened on 27 January 1959.^[64]

On 11 October 1967, Toombul shopping centre was opened at 1015 Sandgate Road by Westfield. As there were concerns that the site was floodprone, the site was filled and raised to make it higher. The centre has been modified and extended over the years. It was the largest shopping centre of the north side of Brisbane until 1999-2000 when it was overtaken by Westfield Chermside's redevelopment. In July 2003, Centro Properties Group bought the centre. In May 2016, Mirvac bought the centre.^[83][84]

Nundah's commercial precinct suffered a precipitous decline from the 1970s with the construction of Toombul shopping centre.^[85] Increasing motor traffic along Sandgate Road also reduced Nundah's appeal as a shopping precinct as it was difficult to park. Gradually many shops closed, and those that opened in their place were often "low-class" establishments such as pawn brokers, charity stores etc. that were unappealing to most shoppers, driving them increasingly to shop at Toombul.

Renewal of Nundah

However, in 2001 the Nundah Bypass Tunnell was constructed under nearby Bage Street, diverting through traffic away from the suburban centre. There was considerable popular support to name the road tunnel after George Bridges in recognition of his contribution to the development of the district and the fact that the tunnel was located on his original land holding.^[86] In 2009 as part of Queensland's 150th Birthday Celebrations, the Nundah Bypass Tunnel was renamed "George Bridges Tunnel".^[87]

In 1999, the construction of the tunnel required the demolition of the 1923 Baptist Church on the corner of Bage and Chapel Streets.^[88] In 2005 the North-East Baptist Church was built "more or less" on the site of the 1923 Nundah Memorial Baptist Church, adjacent to the 1889 former Baptist Church. The naming of the 2005 church as "North-East" reflects the amalgamation of the Nundah and Wavell Heights Baptist congregations.^[89][57]

In 2008 the Brisbane City Council suburban renewal programme has seen new art installations, cafés and commercial enterprises open in Nundah, creating a village-like atmosphere along the now-quiet Sandgate Road.^[90] The suburb has now become popular among white collar workers seeking relatively inexpensive housing and apartments only a moderate distance from the Brisbane CBD. Since then, along with the rest of the city, housing prices in the area have skyrocketed, pricing most of the traditional working class out of the suburb.

In the 2016 census, the population of Nundah was 12,141, 50.5% female and 49.5% male.^[91] The median age of the Nundah population was 33 years of age, 5 years below the Australian median. 63.1% of people living in Nundah were born in Australia, compared to the national average of 66.7%; the next most common countries of birth were India 5.9%, New Zealand 4.5%, England 3.2%, Philippines 1.4% and Nepal 1.3%. 72.7% of people spoke only English at home; the next most common languages were Punjabi 2.2%, Hindi 1.6%, Nepali 1.3%, Mandarin 1.3% and Spanish 1.0%.^[91]

Toombul Shopping Centre was damaged in the 2022 Brisbane flood.^[92][84] In May 2022, it was announced that the centre would not be reopening.^[93]

After the devastating floods of 2022, the Toombul Shopping Centre is undergoing a major transformation. The demolition work of the building was officially started in late 2023.^[94]