The suburb of Bulimba was largely a rural and agricultural area for most of the nineteenth century. In 1849 David McConnel bought land at 'Tugulawa' and began the construction of Bulimba House. This was one of the first grand houses built in Brisbane and the earliest stone house to survive. Donald Coutts later bought the estate and, in 1864, auctioned off much of the land which was subsequently divided into farms. In 1865 coal and some alluvial gold was found in the area, but it remained primarily rural. A boat-building industry also began in the 1860s with names like Crouch & Wright achieving local fame. In 1880, the Apollo Candleworks was established, and a tin smelting works shortly afterwards. By 1894, when Isaac Walter Jenner painted Bulimba Reach, Brisbane River, the industrial activity of the suburb had progressed even further as attested by his inclusion of several smokestacks in the painting. The steam and sail boats on the river further the impression of a busy port.