The Great Sale of Hermit Park, Townsville, 1884 (Map of the Week)

State Library of Queensland has an extensive collection of historical maps of Queensland, some of which have been digitised and can be viewed online.

Hermit Park the great sale, Townsville, 1884. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland.

This real estate map from 1884 advertises 191 allotments of land for sale at Hermit Park in Townsville. The allotments were situated along Charters Towers Road, Armstrong Street, Ackers Street, Ahearne Street, Soule Street, Fraire Street, Gleeson Street, Goldring Street and Echlin Street (now Sturgess Street).

Advertisements for this sale can be found in The Queenslander and the Charters Towers newspaper, Northern Miner.

"Varied charms, its eligible situation, the richness of its soil, etc. All this has been patent to the public for years, and the wonder has only been why so magnificent a property has been allowed to lie unimproved, while all around it has been built upon. Hermit Park reminds the Britisher of one of those noble parks in the West End of London." (The Queenslander, November 1, 1884)

Advertisement, The Queenslander, November 1, 1884

According to the real estate map the public auction was held at the Townsville Town Hall on the afternoon of November 6, 1884.

A higher resolution image of this map can be viewed and downloaded through our One Search catalogue.

Prints of this map are also available through the Library Shop.

You can browse a compendium of our previous maps of the week on our blog.

Myles Sinnamon – Project Coordinator, State Library of Queensland