Cottage (68 Stephen Street)
Heritage listed building in Queensland, Australia
68 Stephen Street is a heritage-listed cottage in South Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. It is one of the earliest surviving dwellings in Toowoomba, the land having been part of one of the first subdivisions when the town was developed. It was built by the mid-1860s for Charles Taylor, who was described in his will as a "well-sinker", and was constructed using laterite, an uncommon material in Toowoomba buildings.
The building was originally recorded as being a single-storey four-room stone cottage. The original calico ceilings were lined in the 1910s and the exterior of the cottage was rendered at about this time. A new bathroom, and kitchen/dining area appears to have been added to the rear of the cottage during the 1920s. A toilet and laundry block has also been added at the rear of the cottage. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 20 February 1995.
History
Records indicate that this single-storeyed stone cottage was erected by the mid-1860s, replacing an earlier timber building. Erected on part of Portion 46, initially an area of 27 acres (11 ha) acquired by William Shuttlewood and Charles Taylor during the late 1850s, it survives as evidence of the development of Toowoomba from this time.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Cottage (68 Stephen Street)” as heritage listed building in Queensland, Australia. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as heritage listed building in Queensland, Australia. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q18349064. Authority coordinates are -27.573, 151.943. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1995.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Cottage (68 Stephen Street)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Cottage (68 Stephen Street) primary sources, Cottage (68 Stephen Street) archive and Cottage research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Cottage (68 Stephen Street)”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Cottage (68 Stephen Street)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.