Brisbanes Observation Tower. Our oldest Convict Built Structure.

This structure started life as a mill for grinding wheat into flour. It was built in 1820s by convict labour, and at first it had sails, but there wasn't enough wind, so they took them down and put in a treadmill. (A wheel like a paddle steamer wheel) that the prisoners and to "walk' all day long. In 1861 the mill was converted to a telegraph signal station. A time ball was added to the roof of the tower in the 1860s – the ball dropped each day at 1pm so Brisbane’s residents could set their watches. The time ball operated until 1930.
During the 1890s the fire brigade used the tower for observation. The Queensland Institute of Radio Engineers conducted radio research from the tower in the early 1920s, and Queensland’s first television broadcast was transmitted from the tower in 1934.

 A4 Holcroft Sketchbook lamy Pen and watercolour

 

Teach me to sit under a tree to sketch. hahahaha