Jacob's Ladder is a landmark in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is a long pedestrian staircase that extends from Edward and Turbot Streets up to Wickham Terrace. The name is a reference to the Biblical stairway ascending to Heaven. Jacob's Ladder has 86 steps.
Jacob's Ladder is within King Edward Park and provides the shortest but steepest pedestrian access from the Brisbane central business district to Spring Hill on the escarpment above. [1] It is on the boundary of the park separating it from an office tower on the north-east, formerly the site of the Brisbane Trades Hall (1891–1984).
In 1895, Alderman James Hipwood made reference to: [2]
This reserve owned by the State Government was one of several parcels of parkland including the Observatory reserve, and municipally-owned Wickham Park. [3]
It is unclear when Jacob's Ladder was recognised by that name, but there are references to its existence by that name from as early as 1897. [4] This may have been about the same time as Turbot Street was extended from Albert Street east to Edward Street, as well as the relatively new Central railway station. The adjoining park reserve was known for its amorous couples by 1904. [5] Poinsettias were to be planted alongside the steps in 1914 so the steps would 'be made bright'. [6]
An unsuccessful attempt was made between 1918 and 1920, led by the Minister for Lands Harry Coyne but opposed by the municipal council, to resume the land so it may be added to the adjoining Trades Hall site. [7] [8] April 1922 saw representations to fully restore access to the steps following the trades hall construction. [9] [10]
In 1920, the concrete steps were built, with earlier photographs showing a steep pathway without steps. [11] As part of demonstrating reliability captured by photograph by a newspaper, the steep stairs were driven the length by a Whippet motor car in March 1928. [12] The 1930 request for a hill-climb test for a truck was rejected by the municipal council. [13] An unattended car, from a Wickham Terrace surgery, careered down the stairs and down Edward Street towards Adelaide Street, resulting in the injury to one pedestrian. [14]
In 1936, municipal parkland resumption was being considered between Albert and Edward Streets along Turbot Street, as far as Jacob's Ladder, for a new dental hospital, public library, and art gallery. [15] [16]
Central railway station is located on the North Coast line in Queensland, Australia. It is the principal station on the City network and is located in the north of the Brisbane central business district. Central station is one of four inner city stations that form a core corridor through the centre of Brisbane.
Fortitude Valley is an inner suburb of the City of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Fortitude Valley had a population of 9,708 people. The suburb features two pedestrian malls at Brunswick Street Mall and Chinatown, and is one of the hubs of Brisbane's nightlife, renowned for its nightclubs, bars and adult entertainment.
Ayr is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Burdekin, Queensland, Australia. It is the centre of a sugarcane-growing region and the administrative centre for the Burdekin Shire Council. In the 2016 census, the locality of Ayr had a population of 8,738 people.
South Brisbane is an inner southern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, South Brisbane had a population of 7,196 people.
Caloundra is a coastal town and the southernmost town in the Sunshine Coast Region in South East Queensland, Australia.
The Brisbane Trades Hall is a former Trades Hall building in Edward Street, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
John Clements Wickham was a Scottish explorer, naval officer, magistrate and administrator. He was first lieutenant on HMS Beagle during its second survey mission, 1831–1836, under captain Robert FitzRoy. The young naturalist and geologist Charles Darwin was a supernumerary on the ship, and his journal was published as The Voyage of the Beagle. After that expedition, Wickham was promoted to Commander and made captain of the Beagle on its third voyage, from 1837 and conducted various maritime expeditions and hydrographic surveys along the Australian coastline.
Brisbane City Hall, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, is the seat of the Brisbane City Council. It is located adjacent to King George Square, where the rectangular City Hall has its main entrance. The City Hall also has frontages and entrances in both Ann Street and Adelaide Street. The building design is based on a combination of the Roman Pantheon, and St Mark's Campanile in Venice and is considered one of Brisbane's finest buildings. It was listed on the Register of the National Estate in 1978 and on the Queensland Heritage Register in 1992. It is also iconic for its Westminster chimes which sound on the quarter-hour.
Wickham Park is a park at 330 Wickham Terrace, Spring Hill, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Brisbane City is the central suburb and central business district of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. It is colloquially referred to as the "Brisbane CBD" or "the city". It is located on a point on the northern bank of the Brisbane River, historically known as Meanjin, Mianjin or Meeanjin in the local Aboriginal Australian dialect. The triangular shaped area is bounded by the median of the Brisbane River to the east, south and west. The point, known at its tip as Gardens Point, slopes upward to the north-west where the city is bounded by parkland and the inner city suburb of Spring Hill to the north. The CBD is bounded to the north-east by the suburb of Fortitude Valley. To the west the CBD is bounded by Petrie Terrace, which in 2010 was reinstated as a suburb.
Spring Hill is an inner northern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Spring Hill had a population of 5,974 people.
Ann Street runs parallel to Adelaide Street and is the northernmost street in the Brisbane CBD in Queensland, Australia. The street is named for Anne, Queen of Great Britain, as part of the CBD street naming series of female British royalty. It is a major thoroughfare, linking as a four-lane one-way street the suburb of Fortitude Valley in the northeast with the Riverside Expressway in the southwest; house numbers run the opposite direction.
Albert Street is a street in the Brisbane central business district, Queensland, Australia. It was named after Prince Albert, the Prince Consort of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. Albert Street railway station is being built directly beneath the street and is expected to open in 2026. The station precinct includes partial road closures as planned in the 2014 City Centre Master Plan, for the creation of a new public space.
All Saints Anglican Church is a heritage-listed church at 32 Wickham Terrace, Spring Hill, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. First founded in 1862, the current building designed by Benjamin Backhouse was completed in 1869, making it the oldest Anglican church in Brisbane. For most of its history, it has been identified with the High Church or Anglo-Catholic tradition within Anglicanism. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.
City Congregational Church was a church building of the Congregational Church at 407 Adelaide Street, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, which replaced the Wharf Street Congregational Church, Brisbane.
The Town of Sandgate is a former local government area of Queensland, Australia, located in northern Brisbane adjacent to Moreton Bay.
Inchcolm is a heritage-listed former office building at 73 Wickham Terrace, Spring Hill, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Eric P Trewern and built in 1930 by J I Green & Son. It was converted into a hotel in 1998, and renovated in 2014. It now trades as Ovolo Inchcolm under the Ovolo Hotels Group. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 23 March 1998.
Brisbane Dental Hospital and College is a heritage-listed former dental hospital at 168 Turbot Street, Brisbane City, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Raymond C Nowland and built from 1938 to 1941 by the Queensland Department of Public Works. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 23 April 1999.
Edward Barton Southerden (1830–1906) was a businessman and politician in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. He was the first mayor of the Town of Sandgate and was known as the "Father of Sandgate" as he was involved in all aspects of progress and welfare of the town.
Turbot Street runs parallel to Ann Street and is on the northern side of the Brisbane CBD in Queensland, Australia. It is a major thoroughfare, linking as a three-to-five lane one-way street with the Riverside Expressway in the southwest to the suburb of Fortitude Valley in the northeast; address numbers run the same direction. It is a one-way pair with Ann Street.
Media related to Jacob's Ladder, Brisbane at Wikimedia Commons