Old Windmill

A windmill right in the middle of the city? This may be hard to believe… But Brisbane is full of surprises! Wingless but rich in history, the Old Windmill is loved by both tourists and locals. But did you know that behind the oldest building in Queensland lies a strange and dark past? Built around 1828, the old windmill was originally meant for grinding local crops, such as corn and wheat, to feed the Moreton Bay penal colony. Despite being on a hill, the structure failed to catch even the slightest breeze. Quite ironic for a windmill, isn’t it? To compensate for this lack of wind power, the authorities came up with a different solution: forced convict labour. And this particular “resource” was far less likely to let them down. Up to 25 convicts were forced to work on a treadmill for 14 hours straight.

In 1841, the site even witnessed a public execution: two Aboriginal men were hanged from one of the building’s windows, after being accused of killing surveyor Andrew Petrie and one of his assistants, who had entered sacred Aboriginal land without permission. In October 1849, the Old Windmill was decommissioned and auctioned off, before serving various functions — as an observation tower, a signal station, the first home of the Queensland Museum, and later even a radio experimentation site, until it eventually became the iconic tourist landmark and heritage symbol we know today.