File:Moore's Cash Store in Commercial Road, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, ca. 1894 (6834356642).jpg

Location: Brisbane, Queensland
Description: A Bulimba horsedrawn tram appears in the foreground.
In 1849 immigrants from the ship 'Fortitude' arrived in Brisbane. They named the low lying land they occupied Fortitude Valley after the ship which brought them to Australia. Within a few years they had established thriving farms and dairies. By the early 1850s the Valley had 150 houses and cottages as well as two hotels and one store. By the 1880s the area was densely settled, and in 1891 the train was extended to Fortitude Valley from the city. Up until the 1960s the Valley was a major retail centre, dominated by the department stores of T.C. Beirnes, McWhirters and Overells, which had all begun in the 1890s.
These firms dominated retailing outside the city centre for over half a century. In the latter part of the twentieth century population and business declined. However the rise in inner city living and the restaurant/nightclub scene has led to a resurgence of the Fortitude Valley area. (information taken from: History of Fortitude Valley, retrieved on 24 August 2004 at ourbrisbane and Brisbane Place Names Board, Brisbane Suburbs and Localities).
View this image at the State Library of Queensland: http://hdl.handle.net/10462/deriv/61275