This would have to be one of my favourite photos of Shepparton’s past taken from the post office tower in c1920.
Back in 2013, I started Lost Shepparton to share images of Shepparton’s early years but I had no photos.
So I did a Google search on the internet to see what was out there.
I stumbled upon the photo collection at the State Library of Victoria and unearthed photos of Shepparton.
Many were postcards, produced by “Rose Series”.
History buffs would know about the Rose Series of postcards produced by Victorian photographer George Rose’s business, the Rose Stereograph Company.
Many scenes of places throughout Victoria were captured by Rose himself before his death in 1942 by which time he was considered one of Australia’s best photographers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Rose was born in Clunes in 1861 and later worked in his father’s boot-making business in Prahran while studying photography.
In 1880, he founded the Rose Stereograph Company and became famous for producing stereographs, or stereo-views, which gave the illusion of being in 3D when seen through a hand-held viewer, a big craze of the era.
As stereographs lost popularity in the 1920s, Rose switched to the production of postcards and decorative cards, and he and the photographers who followed took thousands of scenes around Victoria as well as interstate that became iconic images of Australian life. (Source: MPNews)
This photo depicts a very quiet day in Shepp with only a couple of horse-drawn carriages shown.
I used to tell people that there were no pedestrians shown in the photo until one day a friend found one person.
I named her, Mary Poppins.
See if you can find her.
This is a listing of the main buildings and features with a little history of each.
1. Rowe & Hogg General Store
Adolphus Rowe’s original drapery store at this location was opened in 1873. When Adolphus died in 1905, his son Harry took it over and in 1906 he formed a partnership with James A. Hogg and they added groceries, crockery and ironmongery.
2. Shepparton Hotel
The first Shepparton Hotel was built on the corner of Welsford and High Sts on the east side in 1860. In about 1900, the hotel keeper decided to expand his business up to Wyndham St with a new frontage. In about 1908, E. J. Maltby added the second story.
3. Commercial Bank of Australia
The CBA was the first bank to conduct business in Shepparton in 1874 as an agency in various buildings/offices. In 1883, the building of the corner of Wyndham and High Sts (west side) was built.
4. Lyric outdoor theatre
In September 1914, Lyric Pictures operated an open-air theatre on this corner for 10 years until a new Lyric theatre building opened in Maude St in 1924.
5. Vibert’s timber yard and hardware store
E.J. Vibert opened his hardware store (5a) in c1905 and a factory/timber yard (5b) in 1913.
6. Water tower
The Shepparton Urban Water Trust Tower was built in 1903 in Welsford St.
7. Shepparton swamp
Prior to Victoria Park Lake being created in 1929, it was a swamp as shown in this photo. An old 1897 map shows the swamp and a notation that it could become an ornamental lake.
8. Railway line
Wyndham St rail crossing. The Goulburn Valley Railway line from Seymour to Shepparton was completed in 1880. You can see in the photo that formal housing development and streets in c1920 had not commenced south of the railway line.