View allAll Photos Tagged c1912
A page from the wonderfully detailed Bacon's Atlas of London & Suburbs, this being dated from c1912 by one of the 'special maps' bound in at the front of the atlas. The bulk of London is covered in a series of map sheets at 4" to the mile and is very detailed giving a clear indication of the pre-WW1 city, in its full Victorian and Edwardian splendour but before the massive inter-war expansion into 'Metroland' and similar suburbs.
Bacon's was formed by one George Washington Bacon (1830–1922), an American who set up business in London producing atlases and maps of the capital in about 1870 after a series of business failures. G W Bacon prospered and in c1900 were acquired by the Scottish publishers and cartographers W.& A.K. Johnston of whom they became a subsidiary.
This is the eastern half of Sheet 1 and this covers the suburban delights of Finchley that includes Church End, East Finchley and North Finchley along with Woodside Park. The map cleaerly shows the Great Northern Railway's suburban branches that ran out of Kings Cross and that from opening in the 1870s had stimulated suburban growth of a generally 'high quality' - in comparison with the denser areas say such as Walthamstow served by the GER. In time the GNR's line, by then the LNER's, was to be included in London Transport's extensions of the Northern line that would, had the plans come to fruition, have included not just the electrification of the bulk of the railway seen here that occurred in 1940, but that would have formed part of the Northern Heights extensions that post-war austerity and green belt planning saw cancelled.
Also clearly seen are the Mill Hill Barracks and, around Temple Fortune, the northern edge of the famous Hampstead Garden Suburb. One other use of land on the then 'outer edge' of the Metropolis was that of cemeteries for the inner London boroughs that had long since run out of land for burial grounds. Here those for three boroughs, Islington, Marylebone and St Pancras can be seen.
The organ which fills the north transept built in 1860 - 61 as the resting place of 51 years rector Rev Edward Thomas March Phillipps and his family, by his successor and son in law Rev Edward Smythies, was bought second hand c1912 and is thought to have been built in Devon c 1900 , it is made of 3 separate smaller organs and was renovated and restored in 2007 - Church of St Peter & St Paul, Hathern Leicestershire
Brixton Road, Brixton town centre, looking north.
See much more information including links in comments by Col & JB (KK 69521).
Photographer unknown.
A very colourful advert advertising the many shades and patterns available in Warerite, one of the types of laminated plastics that was being marketed in this 1949 issue of Architectural Review for use in public houses. Such laminated materials, an early offshoot of the modern 'plastics' industry, largely stem from work in c1912/13 associated with the American Westinghouse Company using resins from the Bakelite concern and as can be seen here Warerite was part of the UK Bakelite company.. Such laminates later included Formica, now almost a generic name for such sheets, The bar design illustration is by George Grey Wornum (1888 - 1957), a British architect and designer who is remembered for buildings such as the RIBA headquarters in London and as designer of the basis of the modern 'heritage' street lighting in the City of Westminster based on those he designed for the streetscape works around Parliament Square in 1953.
Chocolat d'Aiguebelle "European Royalty & Palaces" series of 12 issued c1912
No12 King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and The Quirinal Palace in Rome
The London and Provincial Bank had a branch in Castle Street.
This was their only other branch in Liverpool.
This flamboyant bank was built for L & P c1912-14.
www.flickr.com/photos/44435674@N00/3286770547/in/pool-603...
Chocolat d'Aiguebelle "European Royalty & Palaces" series of 12 issued c1912
No9 King Haakon VII of Norway and the royal palace in Christiania (Oslo)
A rear view of the publicity bus showing the red and yellow hazard warning plates fixed on the back. The other vehicles are a JGF-K DMS on route 226, RM122 on route 83, London Country trainer RT4496 and RM2011 on the 2B. The Leyland National is almost certainly a 268. The surface of the bus station forecourt betrays its history; the stone setts laid c1912 when the original carriage road was extended into a bus station remained in the entrance at this time. The line in the tarmac on the right shows where the kerb line was before the 1973 installation of loading islands. 18th June 1979.
The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) A1 Class is an English class of 0-6-0T steam locomotive. Designed by William Stroudley, 50 members of the class were built in 1872 and between 1874 and 1880, all at Brighton Works. The class has received several nicknames, initially being known as "Rooters" by their south London crews. However, the engines were more famously known as "Terriers" on account of the distinctive 'bark' of the exhaust beat.
A1 (Terrier) Class 0-6-0T No.61 ‘Sutton’ (661, 32661) designed by William Stroudley, built in 1875 at Brighton Works. Rebuilt to A1X 1912. From 1948 it was allocated to 71D Fratton shed and ended up at 71A Eastleigh were it stayed until it was withdrawn 8 June 1963 and Withdrawn April 1963, This was the last Terrier to be scrapped by British Rail at Eastleigh, 27 June 1963.
Photographer unknown. – taken with motor train at Bandon Halt, (closed on 07/06/1914) on Sutton Line c1912
c1912 postcard view of the Main Street Bridge in Lafayette, Indiana. This view was from the West Lafayette side of the Wabash River looking east-southeast toward downtown Lafayette. The bridge provided a vehicular connection between the two cities as well as an interurban and streetcar link. The area was served by the T.H.I. & E. (Terre Haute, Indianapolis and Eastern) and the Fort Wayne and Wabash Valley (later the Fort Wayne and Northern Indiana) traction companies.
The predominant landmark in this scene beyond the bridge was the Tippecanoe County Courthouse, located on the south side of Main Street between Third and Fourth Streets. Among the visible business signs was the WM. FOLCKEMER & SON sign at the left edge of the postcard. This sign was on a four-story building (202 Main Street) that stood along Second Street. The 1907 Sanborn™ fire insurance map set shows a furniture, undertaking and casket business in this building. The Folckemer furniture factory was located a short distance away at Brown and Fourth Streets. Another barely readable sign advertised ___ISON BROS. The Jamison Bros. Department Store stood across the street from Folckemer’s on the northwest corner at Main and Second Streets. Below those two signs was another that advertised the LAFAYETTE LUMBER & MFG CO. The sign also advertised INTERIOR FINISH — STORE FIXTURES — LUMBER, LATH & SHINGLES. The office (208 North Second Street) was located midway between Main and Ferry Streets. Their planing mill was at the southwest corner at Second and Ferry Streets. Lumber was stored along the river.
Another sign was visible through the bridge structure to the right of the Jamison sign. It advertised ____ HOTEL. The 1907 Sanborn™ map set shows the Hines Hotel southeast of the intersection at Main and Second Streets. The 1915 map set shows the St. Nicholas Hotel at that location. The 1909-1910 Polk city directory listed the St. Nicholas Hotel at 205-211 Main Street.
The signs that could be seen through the bridge structure on the right advertised the FRED REULE business. The 1909-1910 Polk directory listed products including hardware, agricultural implements, seeds and carriages. The business occupied much of the block south of Columbia Street between First and Second Streets. The 1907 map set didn’t identify the business owner’s name, but the 1915 map set identified this as The Johnson Hardware Co. Below that business in this scene, a sign advertised the H. B. LYMAN business. This was Harry B. Lyman and the advertisements in the Polk directory listed products such as lime, cement, plaster, sewer pipe and fire brick. The business address was listed as 110-112 North Second Street, but the business occupied the south half of that block between Main and Columbia Streets.
At the right edge of this scene, the sign advertised a FIREPROOF GARAGE. The 1915 Sanborn™ map set shows this garage on the south side of Columbia Street between First and Canal Streets. Notes on the map sheet say the structure was built with a capacity of 25 cars in 1911 using fireproof construction techniques. That means this postcard photo was taken between the time the garage was built in 1911 and the occurrence of the Great Flood in March of 1913 that damaged this bridge. Shortly after the flood, the Tippecanoe County Commissioners decided to spend $250,000 for a new 740-foot-long concrete replacement bridge.
Signs on both sides of the entrance to the streetcar/interurban section of the bridge warned DANGER STOP KEEP OUT. Below the sign on the right, the posters advertised “THE PINK LADY.” It was a 1911 Broadway musical comedy. A poster on the other side of the bridge announced COMING: ABORN _______ GRAND OPERA COMPANY MADAM BUTTERFLY. Online newspaper archives include reports of the Aborn English Grand Opera Company performing “Madam Butterfly” in Nebraska in late 1911 and in Pittsburgh and Providence in early 1912.
From a private collection.
Selected close-up sections of this postcard can be seen here, from left to right in the image.
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Copyright 2012-2014 by Hoosier Recollections. All rights reserved. This image is part of a creative package that includes the associated text, geodata and/or other information. Neither this package in its entirety nor any of the individual components may be downloaded, transmitted or reproduced without the prior written permission of Hoosier Recollections.
Ruskin, BC Canada
Ruskin Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Stave River in Ruskin, British Columbia, Canada. The dam was completed in 1930 for the primary purpose of hydroelectric power generation. The dam created Hayward Lake, which supplies water to a 105 MW powerhouse and flooded the Stave's former lower canyon, which ended in a small waterfall approximately where the dam is today.
Ruskin Dam was constructed along with the Western Canada Power Company's hydroelectric development of the Stave Valley. Stave Falls Dam was completed in 1912 and Alouette Dam, the third dam in the system, in 1928. Construction on Ruskin Dam, about 3 mi downstream of Stave Falls began in 1929 by the British Columbia Electric Railway who had previously bought Western Canada Power in 1921.
In November 1930, the dam was inaugurated and local businessmen and politicians celebrated by dining in its powerhouse. Only two generators were operational at first and the third was added in 1950. The first superintendent of Stave Falls Dam was the namesake for Hayward Lake. In 1961, when the provincial government took over the BC Electric Company, the dam became the property of BC Hydro, a Crown corporation.
This image is best viewed in Large screen.
Thank-you for your visit, and please know that any faves or comments are always greatly appreciated!
Sonja
Tasmanian Archives and Heritage Office: LPIC147/7/181
Images from the TAHO collection that are part of The Commons have ‘no known copyright restrictions’, which means TAHO is unaware of any current copyright restrictions on these works. This can be because the term of copyright for these works may have expired or that the copyright was held and waived by TAHO. The material may be freely used provided TAHO is acknowledged; however TAHO does not endorse any inappropriate or derogatory use.
A page from the wonderfully detailed Bacon's Atlas of London & Suburbs, this being dated from c1912 by one of the 'special maps' bound in at the front of the atlas. The bulk of London is covered in a series of map sheets at 4" to the mile and is very detailed giving a clear indication of the pre-WW1 city, in its full Victorian and Edwardian splendour but before the massive inter-war expansion into 'Metroland' and similar suburbs.
Bacon's was formed by one George Washington Bacon (1830–1922), an American who set up business in London producing atlases and maps of the capital in about 1870 after a series of business failures. G W Bacon prospered and in c1900 were acquired by the Scottish publishers and cartographers W.& A.K. Johnston of whom they became a subsidiary.
One of the special plates shows the numerous London gas supply undertakings, mostly private companies although a good few of the Borough councils also ran municipal undertakings. The major company in the capital was, until Nationalisation in 1949, the Gas Light & Coke Company that was, given its origins in 1812, the first gas supply company in London and one of the earliest in the world. By the date of this map the GLCC had developed the major works at Beckton, adjacent to the Thames in East London although it still had stations and gas holders in the heart of Westminster where the first works had been situated. The company had acquired many competitors and in the coming years after c1912 would acquire others such as the Ilford Gas Company and the Brentford Company - the latter had itself in the 1920s acquired the smaller Harrow and Stanmore Company.
The other major company was the South Metropolitan whose name somewhat belies its geographic supply area. It was also one of the country's largest producers and was held in high regard for the efficiency of production - although as weith all town gas works, cleaning sites up afterwards was never simple. The South Met's works included the vast Greenwich works, now the site of the Millennium Dome.
The map is also used to show the Underground Railways of London - these include the original 1863 Metropolitan Railway, of cut and cover construction as was the District, along with the 'deep tube' lines such as the Central London, the Great Northern Piccadilly & Brompton, The Baker St & Waterloo, the Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead, The Great Northern & City and the City & South London Railways. By the date of this map the majority of these companies had been acquired by the Underground Electric Railways of London, the London Electric Railways, and were forming the effective start of the 'Combine' that would form a key component of London Transport in 1933.
Chocolat d'Aiguebelle "European Royalty & Palaces" series of 12 issued c1912
No4 King Frederick VIII of Denmark and Frederiksborg Castle
A classic postcard view of the statue, looking west along the part of the main thoroughfare called simply, Holborn - after the junction with Gray's Inn Road, it becomes High Holborn. The Thomas Wallis department store is seen on the left and the spire of the Prudential building on the right. The Wallis department store was completely destroyed during WW2 - see further pictures in this set.
Chocolat d'Aiguebelle "European Royalty & Palaces" series of 12 issued c1912
No8 King Gustav V of Sweden and the royal palace in Stockholm
Taken from a print in my collection, photographer and date not known.
NSER class C, built Dubs numbered 13 in 1875. Renumbered 13A c1912 and withdrawn 1921.
The Barrel public house in Tower Square, Tunstall.
Sitting on the corner of Tower Square and Forster Street, with Paradise Street leading off into the distance, this old pub was the Crown and Anchor before being renamed. It was probably built between 1816 and 1821, much of Tower Square (then Market Place) was developed around 1816 but Paradise Street, to which this is attached, was built in and around 1821.
The old main entrance was on the near corner but has been filled in. Interestingly, what is now the main door has been remodelled, a picture from the early twentieth century (c1912) shows the door with a transom/lintel that matches the other doors and ground floor windows but by the 1960's the unsual design that we see now had been adopted.
The 1912 image showed a, possibly carved or cast, "Crown and Anchor" sign above what was the main entrance on the front elevation and a "Parker's Ales" logo of similar description on the Forster Street side.
I remember that one of the shops on the left was a fish and chip shop back in the late 1970's to early 80's.
Ruskin, BC Canada
Ruskin Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Stave River in Ruskin, British Columbia, Canada. The dam was completed in 1930 for the primary purpose of hydroelectric power generation. The dam created Hayward Lake, which supplies water to a 105 MW powerhouse and flooded the Stave's former lower canyon, which ended in a small waterfall approximately where the dam is today.
Ruskin Dam was constructed along with the Western Canada Power Company's hydroelectric development of the Stave Valley. Stave Falls Dam was completed in 1912 and Alouette Dam, the third dam in the system, in 1928. Construction on Ruskin Dam, about 3 mi downstream of Stave Falls began in 1929 by the British Columbia Electric Railway who had previously bought Western Canada Power in 1921.
In November 1930, the dam was inaugurated and local businessmen and politicians celebrated by dining in its powerhouse. Only two generators were operational at first and the third was added in 1950. The first superintendent of Stave Falls Dam was the namesake for Hayward Lake. In 1961, when the provincial government took over the BC Electric Company, the dam became the property of BC Hydro, a Crown corporation.
This image is best viewed in Large screen.
Thank-you for your visit, and please know that any faves or comments are always greatly appreciated!
Sonja
A page from the wonderfully detailed Bacon's Atlas of London & Suburbs, this being dated from c1912 by one of the 'special maps' bound in at the front of the atlas. The bulk of London is covered in a series of map sheets at 4" to the mile and is very detailed giving a clear indication of the pre-WW1 city, in its full Victorian and Edwardian splendour but before the massive inter-war expansion into 'Metroland' and similar suburbs.
Bacon's was formed by one George Washington Bacon (1830–1922), an American who set up business in London producing atlases and maps of the capital in about 1870 after a series of business failures. G W Bacon prospered and in c1900 were acquired by the Scottish publishers and cartographers W.& A.K. Johnston of whom they became a subsidiary.
One of the special plates shows the numerous London electricity supply undertakings, mostly private companies although a good few of the Borough councils also ran municipal undertakings. One of the early issues in the electricity supply industry was that many undertakings generated and supplied power at different voltages and phases. This was to become a significant issue that finally forced Government intervention in post-WW1 years as it was hampering the more widespread use of electricity as well as making the manufacturing and use of electrical appliances, both domestic and industrial, difficult. As such many of these companies formed themselves into a 'committee' in c1922 followed by a more binding Joint Electricity Authority in c1925. This largely coalesced around the County of London company, as well as the Underground Group dominated North Met.
This enabled a much larger degree of conformity in supply voltages etc., as well as allowing for the closure of various smaller, early and inefficient generating stations with undertakings being supplied in bulk from either more efficient or the new generation of 'designated' and Grid generating stations.
This part of Red Hill was surveyed and subdivided into suburban portions in the 1860s. The site on which the
Skate Arena is situated was part of portion 737, on the southern side of Enoggera Terrace at the junction with
Musgrave Road, alienated by George Mannion in 1870. Mannion Street, at the rear of the Skate Arena, is likely
to have been named after him. By the late 1880s, portion 737 had been subdivided into smaller residential
allotments. From 1889 until 1920, subdivisions 14 to 28 remained on one title, passing through several owners,
until title to subdivisions 22-27, near the intersection with Musgrave Road, was transferred to Red Hill Picture
Pops Ltd. A number of rental houses had been erected along Enoggera Terrace between Musgrave Road and
Jay Street, but it is not clear whether there were any extant buildings on the site acquired by Red Hill Picture
Pops Ltd in 1920. During this period, Enoggera Terrace continued to be a social hub of Red Hill with the Ithaca
Town Chambers, numerous shops, and other services such as halls and the police station situated along the
street.
In 1920 an open-air ‘picture palace’ was already established on Enoggera Terrace, on the opposite [northern]
side of the road, at the corner of Waterworks Road. This picture show functioned from c1912 until replaced by
Red Hill Picture Pops Ltd.’s new theatre on the other side of the road, c1920-21. In December 1920, the titles
office recorded a bill of mortgage on subdivisions 22-27, portion 737 for £1,500, taken out by Red Hill Picture
Pops Limited from The Public Curator of Queensland. It is possible this helped to finance construction of the new
theatre, which is first listed in the Post Office street directories in 1921.
A c1924 photograph shows the Red Hill Picture Pops theatre as a large, gable-roofed structure with full length
ridge ventilator and a modest façade, on a prominent location on Enoggera Terrace. By March 1925, at least part
of the theatre was of brick construction, the western brick wall of the theatre suffering damage from water
running off the adjacent Red Hill Police Station site at the corner of Musgrave Road and Enoggera Terrace. In
late 1927, the front of the theatre was remodelled at a cost of £380, with the addition of shops. Plans were
prepared by Brisbane architect RT Erskine, and the contractor was W Tinnerman.
A c1932 sewerage detail plan indicates that the structure occupied the whole of subdivisions 24-27, with the
walls erected to the perimeter. This plan also indicates the buttresses located on subdivisions 22 and 23, along
the western side of the theatre, where the land falls steeply.
Through the 1920s and into the early 1930s, Alfred [Bertie] E Moore was secretary of Red Hill Picture Pops Ltd.
and manager of the theatre. The Moore family lived on Waterworks Road, initially just past Church Street from
c1907-c1911, moving to the corner of Waterworks Road and Enoggera Terrace c1911/12 - about the same time
the open-air picture theatre was established next door on Enoggera Terrace. It is likely Bertie Moore was
associated with this first picture theatre as well as the c1920 hardtop. Long-time residents of Red Hill have
recalled that in the late 1920s and early 1930s, Mrs Moore sold the theatre tickets from an island ticket box in the
front foyer. For the evening shows, Bertie Moore always wore a dinner suit and his wife an evening gown with a
fresh rose pinned on the shoulder. Apparently they kept a tight rein on their often unruly audiences, and a slogan
in the foyer read: If you like the program tell your friends, if you do not like it, tell us.
By June 1930, ‘talkie apparatus’ had been installed at the Pops Picture Theatre on Enoggera Terrace. Following
the release of Warner Brother’s first talking picture, The Jazz Singer, in 1927, cinemas world-wide either
converted to sound or closed down. Sound projection leasing or purchasing arrangements were often
exorbitantly high, and many Queensland suburban and rural exhibitors who committed themselves to very
expensive sound projection plant at this period, over capitalised, were burdened with running costs, and did not
survive the economic depression of the early 1930s.
There were approximately 200 picture theatres in Queensland in the 1930s, of which 54, or about 25%, were
located in Brisbane. This was the period when most Brisbane suburbs had at least one picture theatre, if not
more, and competition for audiences was strong. The Red Hill Picture Pops’ closest competitors were the Plaza
Theatre on Latrobe Terrace [opened c1930] and Stephens’ New Paddington Theatre, erected on Given Terrace
c1924.
In 1931 Red Hill Picture Pops Ltd, possibly struggling to survive the depression and the costs of sound
installation, or perhaps renovating the building, took out a second mortgage on the theatre from Richard Francis
Stephens, who was associated with the Stephens-Munro chain of suburban theatres on Brisbane’s north side.
Stephens- Munro ultimately acquired six theatres - the Astor at New Farm, the Imperial at Lutwyche, the Savoy
at Clayfield, the Paddington on Given Terrace, the Arcadia at Ascot, and the Jubilee at Toowong - and
subsidised other small suburban exhibitors like the Red Hill Picture Pops. It is possible the connection with RF
Stephens gave Red Hill Picture Pops Ltd greater bargaining status at the major film distributors’ Brisbane film
exchanges.
In November 1934, the Red Hill Picture Pops theatre was leased to William Edward Kirby, who eventually gained
title to the property early in 1944. Kirby had changed the name of the place to The State Theatre by 1937, and by
1938 the theatre had a seating capacity of 640. In 1948 title passed to State Theatres Pty Ltd, with Kirby still the
exhibitor, and renovations were undertaken in 1950. In 1951, State Theatres Pty Ltd sold subdivisions 22 and
23, the two vacant blocks along the western side of the theatre, with a 1952 easement in their favour over a strip
of this land adjoining the theatre.
In 1954 title to the property passed briefly to Christopher James Sourris and his wife Effie - [the Sourris family
has been connected with other suburban theatres in Brisbane] - but they sold within months to George Londy
and his wife Velio. In 1955, Velio Londy transferred her interest in the property to John Sklavos. With the
introduction of television to Brisbane in the late 1950s, cinema audiences declined rapidly. Many cinemas
installed wide cinemascope screens in an attempt to attract audiences back to the picture theatres, but suburban
cinemas struggled to continue screening films and in the 1960s and 1970s many closed, the buildings converted into alternative uses or the sites redeveloped. By the 1980s, only a handful of single-screen interwar suburban cinemas survived in Brisbane.In an attempt to retain audiences, Londy and Sklavos renovated The State Theatre in 1958, installing a cinemascope screen, a new ceiling, and decorative sound boards along the sides. By 1960, the seating capacity at The State Theatre had increased to 1000.Films continued to be screened at the State into the early 1960s, but in January 1964 the theatre was acquired by David and Shirley Venables, who converted it into a ‘sound lounge’ known as Teen City. Many of Australia’s most popular rock and roll stars played at Teen City, including Little Pattie, Col Joy, and the BeeGees, but the venture ceased within a couple of years. In 1965 the place was converted into the Red Hill Skate Arena. The floor to the rink was constructed of timber and Masonite initially - later a concrete floor was laid. As with the picture theatres which struggled to survive the impact of television in the 1960s, new recreational activities - especially skateboarding and rollerblading made popular in the late 20th century - are eroding the popularity of indoor skating. While still operating as a skating rink, the future of the Red Hill Skate Arena remains uncertain.
**Brisbane Heritage Registry**
Ruby Deluxe Reflex, has a revoling back for 6x8.5cm exposures with a focal-plane shutter speeds 1/10 to 1000, time, the lens is a Dallmeyer Pentac F/2.9 made in England c1912- 1930,
Astoria, Oregon ... possibly on the Columbia (or maybe Young's Bay). High tech diving gear from the early 20th century. God alone knows what these crazy Finns are doing.
Chocolat d'Aiguebelle "European Royalty & Palaces" series of 12 issued c1912
No2 King Alfonso XIII of Spain and the Royal Palace, Madrid
Lefevre-Utile Biscuits c1912 (reproduction of their advertising portraits by famous artists) ~ artist signed by A.Muriguor (?)
The former "Astoria"cinema had become a warehouse by the time I took this photograph in 1987, since then it had been "STATUS" an intruder alarm suppliers before being converted into a music academy run by a church ministry.
I took the photo on a tripod with a 28mm lens mounted a Minolta XG-1 loaded with Fujichrome 100 at an exposure time of about 28 seconds waiting for traffic to etch light trials along the image. The Mini was the then current version and belonged to a friend who, alas, is no longer with us.
Exhibited at the Herbert art gallery in June/July 1989
Copied from the 1989 exhibition print on my Canon 7D
Photographer: Francis Caird Inglis, Scottish Colorfoto Collection
Date: c1912
Format: glass plate negative
See more image of Princes Street from the collections of Historic Environment Scotland:
See where this picture was taken. [?]
In February 1911 the Sydney Morning Herald reported that plans had been completed in the Government Architect's Office for the erection of a large parcels post office at the Central Railway Station.
These plans were for a five storey building with three frontages, but with the main elevation to George Street west. It was to be a "handsome building... in keeping with the station buildings already erected." The basement of the building was to be devoted to a mails and parcels sorting room with "observation galleries for the detectives at each end." The ground floor, to be "approached by a flight of trachyte steps", was the space set aside for the public to transact business, with "writing desks and large counters, circular in plan, over which parcels can be booked or taken possession of." The ground floor would also include offices for customs officials, and at the rear of the building on the ground floor level there was to be an entrance for carts.
Although the design of the Parcels Post Office is usually credited to George McRae, the main portion of the building was designed under McRae's predecessor as government architect, Walter Liberty Vernon. Vernon retired in August 1911 and E L Drew became acting government architect until McRae took over the position in May 1912.
The initial scheme for the post office was prepared by G M Blair, and approved by Drew and Vernon. In January 1912 the Sydney Morning Herald reported that work on the Parcels Post Office had been slow because of the "depths it was necessary to sink to obtain a reliable foundation" and also because the gantry originally erected for work on the building had blown down. At that time the basement and light wells of the building were almost complete. By mid-1912 a decision had been made to add a further two storeys to the original design. Blair designed these additions.