My Past is No More - Oonoonba State School

The former basketball court and raintree of the original Oonoonba State School.  Since I captured this image there is a road through this area and hew housing developments, the raintree and basketball court have since been demolished. When I captured this image the school which was behind the raintree had been demolished.  There were a vast range of  buildings dating back to the original school building from the 1920s, and mid century buildings.

Suburb in focus: Ooonoonba, Townsville.

The older suburbs of Townsville are interesting in many ways.  They are home to many wonderful examples of the cities earlier 20th century buildings and as such tell a rich visual and social story.  Such suburbs include Belgian Gardens, North Ward, South Townsville, Hermit Park and Ooonoonba (pictured above).

Ooonoonba is about 3 km from the city.  Until recently it wasn't directly linked to other suburbs, it stood alone, with the mangrove swamp behind it and the (former) Ross River meatworks cattle yards over the Abbott Street highway.  Now the cattle yards have been converted into the new suburb of Fairfield Waters.

What is strikingly different about older early/mid 20th Century suburbs is their street uniformity with their grid structure and large back yards.  Many new housing estates, such as Fairfield Waters (pictured below) have small back yards, homes that sit very close to one another and bending streets.

The old and new layout: Ooonooba (left) and Fairfield Waters (right)