GALLERY: Now and then CBG

Enjoy our dynamic presentation of old and new photographs from similar vantage points.
Double your fun and walk to the actual spot in the botanic gardens and imagine the past while looking at the present.

Want to know more? >>> TAKE ME TO THE TIMELINE!

See other map at bottom of page for views from outside site looking inwards!

[1]

 

1932 THEN: original position of gates was flush with Alice Street Boundary, with the distinctive Jacaranda tree on inside of BG.
2017 NOW: in 1958 the gates were moved back to present position. After a storm, the old Jacaranda was lost but is now replaced.

 

 

[24]

 

1905 THEN: shows 5 masted ship (Source: SLQ/JOL)
2017 NOW: Mt Coot-tha in background now obscured by new buildings and row of bunya pines constant.

 

 

[2]

 

1895 THEN: Ship festooned with flags anchored off Brisbane in the Town Reach  (Source: SLQ/JOL Neg.69149)
2017 NOW: International Boat Moorings with same Old Minerals House visible in both views.

 

 

[25]

 

1893 THEN: Floods deposited several ships onto the bank of the botanic gardens (Source: SLQ/JOL Neg 6192)
2017 NOW:  The Mangroves recolonised Gardens Point.

 

 

[3]

 

1910s THEN: Viewed from Old Minerals House showing battery and riverside plantings.
2015 NOW: gum trees with reinstalled old cannon and Storey Bridge
2017 NOW: Storey Bridge and riverside plantings

 

 

[4]

 

1906 THEN: Battery of 13 guns (Source: SLQ/JOL 48249)
2017 NOW: Mature figs and remnants of battery.

 

 

[5]

 

1910 THEN: Second Kiosk (Built 1902, destroyed by fire in 1910) located next to “Big Fig” in Middle of gardens. (Source: BCC A445-1)
2014 NOW: Big Fig beside present-day Camellia Garden.
2017 NOW: Camellia Garden is located on Kiosk footprint. Big Fig receiving arboricultural care with props and aerial root guards.

 

 

[6]

 

1880s THEN: Drinking Fountain with Bamboo grove in background (surrounding Fern Island)
1984 THEN: Fern Island mounding without any water or bamboo (lagoon filled in 1939)
2017 NOW: replaced fencing and 1998 bamboo plantation (stage 1)

 

 

[7]

 

 

1876 THEN: Fern Island designed by Walter Hill in late 1850s, covered with wild plantings [Source: SLQ/JOL100082]

2014 NOW: water gone but mound that was Fern Island remains together with Palm trees covered in Creeping fig and a very large Pandanus. Bamboo replanted in 1998.

 

 

[8]

 

 

1868 THEN: four lily ponds originally with lots of open grassland. Looking up the hill to the first Residence with several posed gardeners. (Source: SLQ/JOL 57900)
c1970s THEN: Looking up hill (Source: BCC Historic Parks Files D97)
2017 NOW: Only 2 ponds remain with the this lily pond filled with Dean’s “Jimmy Merrill” sculpture.

 

 

[9]

 

1870s THEN: Open grassy area around first Band Pavilion
2017 NOW: Dense shade from Rainforest Garden makes the former band pavilion a lovely retreat as a shelter

 

 

[10]

 

1870s THEN: Open grassy area at base of steps up hill towards first Director’s Residence. (Source: Fryer Library Hume Collection No434)
2017 NOW: Steps now through Rainforest Gardens up to third residence (now the Cafe) at top of hill.

 

 

[11]

 

1984 THEN: aerial roots from banyan (Ficus benghalensis) and old Bear Pit Shelter
2017 NOW: view shows extent of tree growth and the sweeping branch comes from a wonderful old hoop pine.

 

 

[12]

 

c1890s THEN: Philip MacMahon laid out this avenue of Queen Palms (Syagrus Romanzoffianum)
2017 NOW: mixture of palms and record of harsh drought years in narrowing of trunks

 

 

[13]

 

1952 THEN Old stone fountain in Queens Park  with animal enclosures on right
1967 THEN Oakman’s redesign of Queens Park Terraces with new Lagoon and cascade
2017 NOW lush subtropicalian plantings around cascade

 

 

[14]

 

c1890s THEN: Original Lagoon (near Albert St Entry) with surrounding Bamboo and both native black swans and exotic white swans looking towards Parliament House (Source: SLQ/JOL 100871)
1949 THEN: reconfiguring edges and adding an island (Oakman’s design)
2005 NOW: Parliament House obscured by verdant plant growth

 

 

[15]

 

1928 THEN: Visitor pic with unfortunate slanted horizon but capturing animal cages (Source: SLQ/JOL105244)
1958 THEN: changed cages but still there (Source: BCC B54-11019)
2016 NOW: showing no cages, no toilet block behind and no bamboo but now a view to Lagoon and PH annex beyond

 

 

[18]

 

1860s THEN: showing Albert Street Lagoon and bamboo (from roof of Parliament House) Source: SLQ/JOL
1884 THEN: Same view from roof of Parliament House
2017 NOW: highrise and verdant plant growth viewed from Parliamentary Annex

 

 

[19]

 

c1910s THEN: Queensland Club and Alice Street from roof of Parliament House (Source: SLQ/JOL 187176)
2017 NOW: same angle from Parliamentary Annex.

 

 

[22]

 


 

1890 THEN: View from Verandah of the Queensland Club across Queens Park (Source: SLQ/JOL 101313)
2017 NOW: same view across Alice Street

 

TEMP HOLDING View a Map of the Gardens in 1906