Railside Estate, Fairfield, 1914 (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.

Railside Estate, Fairfield, 1914. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland

This real estate map from 1914 advertises 28 allotments of land for sale at the Railside Estate in the Brisbane suburb of Fairfield.

The allotments for sale were situated along Sunbeam Street, Cross Street, Venner Street and Bell Street (now called Bledisloe Street).

Newspaper advertisements for the sale described the features of the estate - "A nicely elevated ridge, adjoining the overbridge. There is a splendid train service of 11 minutes to town, and the tram is within easy distance".

Advertisement for Railside Estate, Fairfield. Published in The Telegraph newspaper, Aug 29, 1914

A public auction was held at the site on the afternoon of August 29, 1914. The Brisbane Courier newspaper reported that 22 of the 28 allotments were sold on auction day, with allotments fetching between  £18 to £34 (approx $2,000 to $3,800 today). The grand total for the auction was £474 (over $53,000 today).

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

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

Myles Sinnamon – Project Coordinator, State Library of Queensland