Albion, the suburb

The construction of the Breakfast Creek Bridge and the installation of the electric tram line to Clayfield were instrumental in opening up some of Brisbane's near-northern suburbs. Albion, just beyond the bridge, was one of those that were sparsely populated before the advent of the electric tram in 1901; prior to that the horse-drawn trams stopped at Breakfast Creek. One of the early buildings in the area was Whytecliffe, built in 1876 and pictured below in 1930.(Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #199905)

Whytecliffe was used as a WAAF barracks during WWII and later became a wedding reception venue. It has now been amalgamated into a retirement village. This is the way it looks these days.(Photo: © 2011 the foto fanatic)

Here is a picture of Albion from 1909, with a group of people boarding a tram. The building on the left with the rooftop ornaments is the Albion Hotel.
(Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #APO-034-0001-0026)

Now that the trams have gone, there are a couple of bus routes that run through here. And the train station is right behind the hotel, but that doesn't prevent four lanes of traffic choking this very busy area.(Photo: © 2011 the foto fanatic)

Pictured below are the Albion Hall in 1909 and the Albion Hotel in 1929.(Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #47138)

(Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #1901)
And here are those two buildings today.

(Photo: © 2011 the foto fanatic)

We will look a bit further at Albion in the next few posts.

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