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Picture this! Celebrate Ipswich’s birthday with a look back in time

26 February 2024

As Ipswich celebrates its 164th birthday this week the city’s leading online heritage platform has called on local citizens to continue to enrich and build its collection.

Since 2008, Picture Ipswich has been connecting the Ipswich community with its past and has become an invaluable research tool for family historians and researchers wanting to engage with Ipswich’s past.

Ipswich City Council Chief Executive Officer Sonia Cooper said while the emphasis was on the origins of Ipswich as a municipality during this week’s birthday celebrations, there are many ways residents can help enrich the Picture Ipswich platform.

“Picture Ipswich is a treasure trove of information and images that celebrate our city’s heritage,” Ms Cooper said.

“There are some great images on Picture Ipswich that capture the essence of the 1800s, when the settlement on the Bremer River was taking its first steps on 3 March 1860.

“Today our residents are enjoying a wave of prosperity as people come here for our laidback lifestyle. The economic foundations laid in the past have stood the test of time and today we are the fastest growing city in Queensland.

“First nations people first cared and tended this country and residents leveraged the natural strengths of the region unlocking its potential to set it on to the path to becoming our great city of today.

Ipswich, which is known traditionally in the Yagara language as Tulmur, has been home to Aboriginal people since before the beginnings of recorded European arrival.

Picture Ipswich also has a section dedicated to the honouring the Traditional Owners of the Ipswich region, the Jagera, Yuggera and Ugarapul People.

Ms Cooper observed that a lot of newcomers to the city will enjoy the insights Picture Ipswich offers, while long-term residents may also find some new connection to the past when looking through the various collections.

“Both newcomers and long-term residents can contribute to our future history collections by helping Picture Ipswich collect contemporary images of the city today which will become tomorrow’s historical records,” Ms Cooper said.

“You can also donate images or documents for digitisation (items are returned), add tags to images to improve searches, provide comments and suggest edits to improve the historical accuracy of the collection and add your own personal recollections and memories.”

Ms Cooper encouraged residents to add to the rich fabric of Ipswich by contributing to collections from all time periods, while suggesting the following links as a starting point to explore the city’s history.

Residents can view images on Picture Ipswich or use this entry point to the collection to experience its capabilities.

For more information about Picture Ipswich and its extensive collection of images, audio and video, visit the website or follow @pictureipswichlibraires on Facebook.

To mark the 164th anniversary of Ipswich being recognised as a municipality Ipswich City Council will be handing out a limited number of celebratory cupcakes at the following library locations on Friday 1 March:

  • Rosewood Library
  • Redbank Plains Library
  • Redbank Plaza Library
  • Ipswich Central Library
  • Springfield Central Library

Ipswich City Council is operating under caretaker provisions in accordance with Chapter 3, Part 5 of the Local Government Act 2009. Media communications by the Mayor and Councillors as ICC spokespeople during this time are limited to ensure compliance with legislation and, equity and transparency between existing Mayor, Councillors and candidates regarding access to Council resources.