Where did the natural water courses go?

South Brisbane has been developed on many water courses and swamps. Melbourne Street and the lower part of Musgrave Park lay on what was known as the South Brisbane swamp. Reedy swamp also lay behind Vulture Street at Water Street and Brook Street. Some water holes in the area were named ‘Cum-booquepa’. A creek ran on Melbourne Street flat, with a deep, ‘frog-haunted’ waterhole from Grey Street to Manning Street, and two patches of water at Merivale Street.

Ray Kerkhove (2015) Notes on Aboriginal Sites and Use of the West End to Woolloongabba Area (Brisbane)

Image: The approximate location of watercourses and swamps on the Kurilpa peninsula at the time of European arrival. Credit: openstreetmap annotated by Paul Granville.