Brisbane Trades Hall

The foundation stone of the original trades hall in Turbot Street, Brisbane, was laid on 4 April 1891 by Sir Charles Lilley.

[1] However, by the 1920s, a larger building was needed as the labour movement had succeeding in unionising about two-thirds of the workforce.

[2] Following on from the extension of the railway line and tunnel underway from Roma Street in 1889 to Central Station, concern with the weight of the first Trades Hall over the tunnel resulted in land resumption, with a new site selected at Upper Edward Street.

[3] The foundation stone of the second trades hall was laid on 1 May 1920 by the Queensland Lieutenant-Governor William Lennon.

In the late 1960s, part of the building housed the FOCO club and bookshop, where the group Society for Democratic Action (SDA) met.