A plaque initiative by Adelaide City Council now recognises the role played by former businesses in the life of Adelaide, and Council is looking for your memories to help commemorate those industries and characters that built our City.
The first Historic Business Recognition Plaque at the Dog & Duck Hotel marks the site of the former Royal Admiral Hotel, which was opened on 5 March 1838 and was one of the first brick buildings in Hindley Street.
The second plaque, which has just been installed, commemorates the former Royal Oak Hotel (now the World’s End Hotel on Hindley Street), which is the third-oldest operating hotel in Adelaide using its original licence.
The plaques will highlight the range of commercial enterprises that once flourished in the City, from foundries and ironworks to inns, theatres, and even hat-makers and chemists; in fact, any business that was established before 1960, or operated in the City for 50 years or more.
Councillor Richard Hayward was delighted to see the first plaques go up in the City streets. “That late, great South Australian institution John Martin & Co – or ‘Johnnies’ – in Rundle Street was owned by my family for more than 100 years, and it’s this sort of business heritage that we should celebrate.”
Lord Mayor Michael Harbison would like to see these plaques across the City, embracing eras from the Copper Boom of the 1870s through to merchants established in the Central Market precinct post-WWII.
“An initiative like this really helps to develop the sense of Adelaide as a living, changing City. We have a history of businesses that have added enormously to the City’s identity, and this is a way to keep those enterprises alive in our minds, bringing them into living memory,” said the Lord Mayor.
The scheme will first be targeted at historic business sites in the area of earliest commercial development (pre-1870) along Hindley Street, Rundle Mall, and Rundle Street, but Adelaide City Council would welcome suggestions for businesses throughout the City.
Send your suggestions to Adelaide City Council through a form on the website at www.adelaidecitycouncil.com/development/heritage.
Examples of businesses that could be selected for the first stage of the program:
E. S. Wigg & Son (Stationers) Edgar Smith Wigg started selling books and homeopathic medicines in 1849 from his first shop located at 4 Rundle Street.
James Calder (Bakery) In 1855 James Calder set up a bakery and confectionery business at 130 Rundle Street. From this small enterprise Balfour’s would later emerge.
Bickford’s (Manufacturers) The Bickford tradition began in 1839, when English settler William Bickford opened an apothecary in Adelaide’s bustling Hindley Street.
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