Allenstown history over the decades

The Embassy Theatre admission was one shilling and the crowd had to stand for the national anthem, God Save the Queen, at the beginning.

What Allenstown Square used to look like before extensions took place.

ALLENSTOWN is Rockhampton’s oldest suburb.

William Allen came to Rockhampton after the Canoona gold rush.

He bought business premises in East St and Bolsover St and then two land parcels on the Athelstane Range.

He put up blocks of land for sale at thirty pounds each and cottages were built.

Locals began to refer to it as Allen’s Town which later became Allenstown.

At the time, Dawson Rd was the arterial road to the Dawson Valley and Peak Downs.

The business centre was established in 1864 by Patrick Egan with a store and the Merry Jig Hotel, now known as the Allenstown Hotel.

The Acheson and Allen Store, where Bendigo Bank was near the laneway in William Street, Rockhampton. George Acheson and William Allen, whom Allenstown is named after were in partnership for some year in the grocery and general importing business.

In 1880, Michael Bolton bought the store and opened a mail order department.

Allenstown State School opened in 1877 with an enrolment of 150 students and one school building.

By 1904 had an average student population of nearly 250.

A steam tram service ran along Upper Dawson Rd to King St and Davis St to The Range from 1909 to 1939.

Ross Armitage and Malcolm Molloy bought Bolton’s store in 1945 and built four new buildings.

Manahan’s grocery store and Dew’s Drapery were in two of them.

In 1952 William Allen was integral in the opening of the suburb’s first church.

In the 1960s the Allenstown shops included a fish and chip shop, Naylor’s pie shop, Rowe and Co chemist, Manahan’s, post office, Dew’s clothing store, Urquhart’s newsagency, fruit and vegetable shop and Lee Chin’s shop.

The Embassy theatre was also popular with locals as most remember the canvas seats.

The admission was one shilling and the crowd had to stand for the national anthem, God Save the Queen, at the beginning.

What Allenstown Square used to look like before extensions took place.

In the 1970s, the shopping centre was extended to surround the shaded village green.

In 1985 Woolworths purchased the school’s principals residence at 28 Caroline St.

The shopping centre was extended again in the 1970s to encircle the small tree shaded village green.

The Cathedral College (TCC) was founded in 1991 as a catholic coeducational college with 340 students from year eight to 10.

Year 11 was added in 1992, year 12 in 1993 and year 7 in 2015.

The school now has around 1,165 with 135 teaching, boarding and ancillary staff.

In 2011, Allenstown Square was approved for a $16 million extension that involved closing off Canning St.

It was reported it took five years for it to be approved by Rockhampton Regional Council.

It included 15 new stores and an extended 376 bay carpark, adding 2400 sqm of retail space.