Warwick's city heart: Modern CBD takes shape
IN PART two of our special series featuring the heart of the city, we take a look back at the floods, fires and earthquakes that rattled the community and instigated the relocation of the CBD from Albion St to its current position.
These disasters, coupled with the tenacity and determination of Warwick business owners, were integral in establishing the main street as we now know it.
Rise of Palmerin St as Warwick's city heart
WHEN Warwick was devastated by one of the worst natural disasters it had ever seen, it forced one of the most substantial changes in the Rose City's history.
The flood that swept over Warwick streets on January 22, 1887 was not only the second biggest to ever hit the area but would also prompt the transition of the main street from Albion St to Palmerin St.
PICTORIAL: Warwick floods through the years
TIMELINE: How Palmerin St became Warwick's city heart
The floodwaters ripped through businesses, leaving widespread and significant damage to those in its path.
When the water receded, business owners and the council were swift to act on relocation, with some of Warwick's most prominent businesses in need of a new home.
Warwick history buff Graham Gillam, whose ancestors owned Warwick's first Criterion Hotel in Palmerin St at the time of the flood, said the relocation of the city centre from Albion St was not a simple matter.
"After the flood, they had to move the post office, the courthouse, and many other businesses from Albion to Palmerin St," Mr Gillam said.
"The Criterion Hotel was already in Palmerin St, and for a time after the flood it served a variety of purposes such as the post office and the courthouse."
Mr Gillam said although the transformation of Palmerin St into the heart of the city presented plenty of physical and logistical challenges, many business identities used the experience as an opportunity to rebuild bigger and better than before.
Timber huts were replaced with stone buildings, many of which remain today, including The Barnes Building (where Rivers is now) and TH Marys (where Bunnings is now).
The flood was not the only natural disaster that would impact the heart of the CBD.
The earthquake of 1883 was a notable, but less dramatic event.
It would be fire, however, that would cause significant destruction in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and prompted the upgrading of the local fire brigade station to a modern stone building of the 1930s.
This would also be the year the city welcomed a major retailer and 40 news jobs to region, with the arrival of Woolworths. ,
Sitting opposite the Town Hall, the new Woolworths store drew excitement over its "lavish retail experience".
In 1935, as Warwick residents were preparing to celebrate "75 years of municipal and general progress", the centre of Palmerin St was again redone, widening the centre strip to accommodate seating and trees.
1936 saw Warwick become an official city and business continued to flourish in the following decades.
General stores such as Johnson's Emporium, which sold a selection of hardware, fashion and the like, were still the order of the day, and a huge selection of hotels were also established.
Petrol stations also underwent a boom, with Caltex coming to town to establish a series of stations. The bowsers of the day were located right on the footpath, at the very edge of the road, allowing motorists to pull up and fill up with ease.
As the decades passed, the city's pioneers who first set up shop in Warwick in the 1850s and 60s, were replaced by a younger and more modern group of business owners.
Saddlers gave way to car sales, blacksmiths and wheelwrights gave way to tyre companies and department stores. In 1960, Woolworths opened a newly remodelled store in Palmerin St, heralding in a new era of modern shopping.
Reflecting the times, the new Woolworths, which was almost three times the size of the original, included extensive parking.
By the 1980s, the Palmerin St site that began in 1935, was now home to Woolworths, an electrical dealer next door, a menswear store called Cantor's Menswear, and another retail space shop.
The site was about to undergo a major redevelopment thanks to McConaghy Holdings - one which would see the creation of Rose City Shoppingworld, an important step for the business community and the community at large in Warwick.
See tomorrow for part three of our heart of the CBD series.
