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A gateway to the docks
If you were a cart or lorry driver delivering or picking up goods during the 1920s, this concrete gate adorned with the Melbourne Harbour Trust crest would be your last barrier before entering Victoria Dock.
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Wharf life
Dated around 1924, this photograph reflects a time in Victoria Dock when workers didn’t rely on powerful electrical or motorised machines to unload cargo from overseas or interstate.
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Queens Bridge over troubled water
By Ashley Smith - Royal Historical Society
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A narrow river
By Ashley Smith - Royal Historical Society of Victoria
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Sky high over the Yarra
By the 1920s, Australia was embracing the age of aviation. The England-to-Australia exploits of Keith and Ross Smith were inspiring future pioneers of the sky, while in far western Queensland, a small company known as QANTAS was taking off.
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A Coode time on the Yarra
The Yarra means many things to many people. It has been a home for wildlife, a valuable resource for both the Wurundjeri people and European settlers, a gateway to the city for cargo ships, a leisurely ride for tourists, and a safety mattress for Birdman Rally contestants. However, no one would dare think of the Yarra as the site of a temporary railway.
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A fleeting glance
Normally, the sight of large ships berthed at Victoria Dock would not raise an eyebrow. However, in 1925, these destroyer-class battleships were the Dock’s most important guests in its 33-year existence.
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An apple a day keeps the docks busy
For any fruit-grower in the 1900s, hoping their hard labour would pay off with big overseas sales, this scene (taken around 1908) would’ve been a nerve-wracking time.
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A view to a hill (with an explosive secret)
It’s late 1855, and a new gasworks has been built west of Spencer St to help supply gas for the city’s growing energy needs.
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(A sailor’s) Home is where the Hearth is
Photographed around 1878, this ornamental box-shaped building doesn’t look home-like, but if you were a 19th century sailor arriving in Melbourne’s Docklands, it was a much-needed sanctuary between long sea voyages.
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Lunchbox at the Library
Bunjil tipped to stay in Docklands
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