On the ‘shick’ in Little Lon
Buildings & streets, Social life & customs, Such was life:
Of all the slums in inner Melbourne, ‘Little Lon’, was the most notorious. But there was more to the precinct than met the eye…
Buildings & streets
Walking the blue lake
Buildings & streets, Cities & towns, Our stories:
Dr David Sornig ponders the history of West Melbourne’s lost wetlands, and takes us on a collective journey around the area.
Melbourne’s lost department stores
Buildings & streets, Our stories, Social life & customs:
Melbourne and shopping have been hand in glove since the 1880s, and at its peak the city flaunted more than a dozen department stores.
The old tin shed
Buildings & streets, Such was life:
‘The Elizabeth Street blot’, ‘unsightly’, ‘deplorable’, ‘an ancient eyesore’. Few buildings in our city’s history excited as much controversy as ‘the old tin shed’.
The erasure of Melbourne’s wetlands
Buildings & streets, Cities & towns, Such was life:
Creative fellow and author, Dr David Sornig, shows us how the library’s maps and manuscripts chart the demise of West Melbourne’s wetlands in his special guest blog this week. Welcome David.
Queen’s wharf
Buildings & streets, Such was life:
In the 1840s a burgeoning Melbourne needed a robust wharf, one to replace the current bog built over swamps.
The discovery of a plan
Buildings & streets, People & professions, Such was life:
Edna Walling created beautiful watercolour designs of her gardens and now Manuscripts staff have just discovered another one, found in the papers of a former Victorian Premier.
The little blue building
Buildings & streets, Such was life:
There’s a little blue building outside Flinders Street Station. ‘When was it built?’, a curious library patron asked. The question led me to some interesting research involving milk cans, viaduct vaults and bananas.
Beautiful architectural drawings now online
Buildings & streets, News, Such was life:
The Melbourne University architecture includes stunning plans of Melbourne houses, which you can now view online.
The great flood of 1891
Buildings & streets, Such was life:
In July 1891, non stop rain over a weekend saw the Yarra break its bank and flood surrounding suburbs- leaving thousands homeless.
