10 quirky facts about Brisbane | ourbrisbane.com

• The city's first traffic lights were installed in Queen Street, in 1937.
• In 1900 the Board of Health offered a bounty on dead rats of 2/- per dozen. Rat catching became a profitable practice for school children.
• Fort Lytton, at the mouth of the Brisbane River, is the only fort in Australia to have a moat. The guns at Fort Lytton were never fired 'in anger' but they were used to warn a Dutch steamer and a fishing vessel that tried to ignore the official procedure before going upriver.
• Brisbane's first brewery, the City Brewery, was established in Mary Street in the 1860's.
• Lang Park's dominant role through the 1950's as a convenient garbage dump, was the disposal of rubbish and nightsoil.
• In 1907 Brisbane's first free kindergarten opened in Fortitude Valley.
• Queensland's oldest building still standing is The Windmill on Wickham Terrace. It was constructed by convicts in 1828. During its lifetime it has contained a treadmill, been used as a signal station, a time ball, housed the fire brigade and was used for radio and television research.
• Brisbane's coat of arms features two gryphons. Gryphons are mythological creatures and were chosen to represent the city because of their spirited nature.
• Brisbane's first poor house was The Dunwich Benevolent Asylum which operated on Stradbroke Island from 1866 to 1946.
• The Female Factory was established around 1829 on the site that is now Brisbane's GPO. Sound like an interesting place? It was… a women's jail.

10 quirky facts about Brisbane | ourbrisbane.com