Ghost Towns
Apr. 9th, 2010 11:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xenithIn case you hadn't noticed, I am fascinated by towns that are no longer. Those places that were homes to hundreds of people who lived and worked, and sent their kids to school, and went to dances, and argued with their neighbours, and drank at the pub, and shopped in the streets, and were died and buried there. But are now home to maybe a handful of people, or just ruins, or wiped off the map completely. The rise and fall of mining booms obviously causes a lot, so there are many down the West Coast, possible more than living towns. Some, like Linda and Gormanston, are still on the map, but it's a bit harder to find Crotty, Pillinger (East or West) or Penghana. Of course there are others in different parts of the island, like the former port of Boobyalla (which is marked in my road atlas!), Cullenswood or Alveston, which I had never even heard of until recently, despite having through it many, many times.
Many years ago, when I was not much older than a teenager, I was looking through an art exhibition at the museum and in one cabinet was a miniature painting of Port Arthur, which is, of course, one of the dullest locations in the whole state, but this showed a street, with house-like buildings on either side. Street. Town. A real town, where people lived and worked, and... Ok it became quite a bit more interesting to me then. Although there probably wasn't much drinking at pubs going on, there not being one until after it closed down. But that's for another day. Maybe.
A different town today, and this one did have a hotel although I missed getting photos of what is left of it.
Definitely a town at this point, with places to live and work, and cleared land and gardens.
And if you follow the link, you'll know where it is :)
(I'll note here: if you do follow the links, the State Library catalogue gets confused if multiple pages are opened, so check the large image at the bottom matches the small one in the top left corner. If they don't, refresh.)
This is the earliest image of habitation, although it's not exactly a settlement.
First settlement, about 1830 The buildings on the left include the two-storey commissariat store, then across the bridge to the rest, with the penitentiary on the hill.
Watercolour of the same settlement Interesting bit outside the right-most house, a round road/driveway that seems ornamental.
Block plan of the above
Can't find any images of next stage of settlement, but this one shows the complex
as a rectangle formed by white-painted buildings. and is dated 1892/1893. But note the long building along the front edge, which I would take to be the Separate Apartment Cells (recycled into workers cottages and other construction works in the 1880s) and now the site of the Coffee Palace built in the late 80s.
This one is dated 1886, from the first industrial period. Note the absence of any buildings along the front and the darker buildings/houses at the back.
This one is c. 1920 so the second industrial era. One of the 12 Apostles is on the left, and the terrace cottages out to the right
And finally close up, about 1936 and not that different from today. Which I will probably get around to doing tomorrow :)
User icon is Brisbane Hotel, which is there but not there. A ghost building.
Many years ago, when I was not much older than a teenager, I was looking through an art exhibition at the museum and in one cabinet was a miniature painting of Port Arthur, which is, of course, one of the dullest locations in the whole state, but this showed a street, with house-like buildings on either side. Street. Town. A real town, where people lived and worked, and... Ok it became quite a bit more interesting to me then. Although there probably wasn't much drinking at pubs going on, there not being one until after it closed down. But that's for another day. Maybe.
A different town today, and this one did have a hotel although I missed getting photos of what is left of it.
Definitely a town at this point, with places to live and work, and cleared land and gardens.
And if you follow the link, you'll know where it is :)
(I'll note here: if you do follow the links, the State Library catalogue gets confused if multiple pages are opened, so check the large image at the bottom matches the small one in the top left corner. If they don't, refresh.)
This is the earliest image of habitation, although it's not exactly a settlement.
First settlement, about 1830 The buildings on the left include the two-storey commissariat store, then across the bridge to the rest, with the penitentiary on the hill.
Watercolour of the same settlement Interesting bit outside the right-most house, a round road/driveway that seems ornamental.
Block plan of the above
Can't find any images of next stage of settlement, but this one shows the complex
as a rectangle formed by white-painted buildings. and is dated 1892/1893. But note the long building along the front edge, which I would take to be the Separate Apartment Cells (recycled into workers cottages and other construction works in the 1880s) and now the site of the Coffee Palace built in the late 80s.
This one is dated 1886, from the first industrial period. Note the absence of any buildings along the front and the darker buildings/houses at the back.
This one is c. 1920 so the second industrial era. One of the 12 Apostles is on the left, and the terrace cottages out to the right
And finally close up, about 1936 and not that different from today. Which I will probably get around to doing tomorrow :)
User icon is Brisbane Hotel, which is there but not there. A ghost building.
