1874 Russell Street looking South from Lonsdale Street
MI_1222
$10.50
A photograph in 1874 of Russell Street looking south from Lonsdale Street.
The building on the SE (left) corner is the All Nations Hotel. We see some roadworks on the corner of Bourke Street, with hoarding advertising the French virtuoso violinist, Jenny Claus, who appeared at the Melbourne Town Hall late January 1874.
On the corner of Collins Street sits the beautiful Independent Church. Right in the centre of the intersection of Collins and Russell Streets sits the colossal sculpture dedicated to the memory of Burke and Wills, the leaders of the ill-fated expedition. To their right we see a small crowd watching the progress of the construction of the new Scots' Church on the NW corner of Collins and Russell Street.
The steeple further to the right belongs to the Presbyterian St Enoch's Chapel in Collins Street, and further to its right, located in Little Collins Street, is the original city fire lookout - a necessity in the growing city where a large percentage of the buildings were residential and of timber construction.
The tawdry set of shops that lie on the west side of Russell Street, between Lonsdale and Little Bourke would define that area well into the middle of the 20th century.
All text © HotPress
Photographer was Charles Bayliss.
This is a digitally retouched reproduction of the original held by the State Library of New South Wales. All prints are reproduced without the HOTPRESS watermarks.
Our team of conservators have worked on a high resolution digital image in order to remove blemishes and artifacts such as stains, mould, scratches and damage caused by the handling of the original. We strive to provide authentic representations of the original work that are suitable for enlargements that retain the tones and character of the original.
