1. Image: flag with black top, red bottom and large yellow circle in the middle

    Aboriginal flag

    The Aboriginal flag flies high over its birthplace, Tarntanyangga/Victoria Square, a symbol of Aboriginal pride, rights and identity.

    Historical Thing | By Mandy Paul, History Trust of South Australia | 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000-2010, 2010s

  2. Adelaide Festival of the Arts

    This festival is widely recognised as one of the great international arts festivals, while its accompanying Writers’ Week is the largest literary event of its kind.

     

    Historical Event | By Lance Campbell | 1960s, 1970s, 1990s, 2000-2010

  3. Image: Bronze statue of girl on sandstone plinth inscribed "ALICE for the children from Josephine and Norman Lewis 1962"

    Alice

    Who, or what, is following Alice in Rymill Park?

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | Parklands | 1950s, 1960s

  4. Image: Crowd of people holding signs marching along street

    Beef Riot

    In January 1931, during the Great Depression, more than 1000 unemployed men clashed with police in protest at the replacement of beef with mutton on their ration tickets

    Historical Event | By Corinne Ball, Migration Museum | North Terrace, Southwest corner | 1930s

  5. Bronze sculpture, Catherine Helen Spence by Ieva Porcius, 1986

    Catherine Helen Spence statue

    The powerful sculpture of Catherine Helen Spence in Light Square, Adelaide celebrates the life and work of a formidable South Australian.

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | Northwest corner | 1850s, 1870s, 1880s, 1890s, 1900-1910, 1920s, 1980s

  6. Image: parade of floats watched by crowds lining street

    Centenary Celebrations 1936

    From sporting events to flower festivals and patriotic displays presented by thousands of children, South Australia's Centenary Celebrations emphasised the positive.

    Historical Event | By Margaret Anderson, History Trust of South Australia | 1930s

  7. The Kingston Ministry, c1896

    Charles Cameron Kingston Memorial

    A remarkable and feisty South Australian attorney-general and premier, a father of federation and the first Australian Minster for Trade and Customs is commemorated by this statue

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | 1850s, 1870s, 1880s, 1890s, 1900-1910, 1910s

  8. Christmas Pageant

    One of the largest pageants in the world, come one, come all to Adelaide’s famous Christmas Pageant!

    Historical Event | By Anne Burrows | North Terrace | 1930s, late twentieth century, mid twentieth century

  9. Colonel Light statue

    Colonel William Light’s statue on Montefiore Hill pointing towards the centre of Adelaide has come to symbolise the city that Light laid out.

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | 1830s, 1840s, 1900-1910, 1910s, 1930s, early twenty–first century

  10. Image: The memorial to Colonel Light without its spire

    Colonel William Light Grave and Monument

    Colonel William Light’s grave remains in Light Square, while Light's Monument there has been replaced and embellished over time

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | Northwest corner | 1830s, 1840s, 1870s, 1890s, 1900-1910

  11. Image: stone cross in park land

    Dardanelles Memorial

    The first Anzac memorial was once an obelisk in a grove of wattles

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | Parklands | 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1960s, 2000-2010, 2010s, First World War

  12. Duncan Case

    George Ian Ogilvie Duncan, a lecturer in law at the University of Adelaide, drowned on 10 May after being thrown into the River Torrens. Rumours spread that officers from the vice squad engaged in ‘poofter bashing’ had killed Duncan.

    Historical Event | By Tim Reeves | River Torrens | 1970s, 1980s, 1990s

  13. Elder Park rotunda, 2008

    Elder Park Rotunda

    Celebrated at its opening in 1882, and again a century later, the rotunda remains a focus point for events in Elder Park.

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | Parklands | 1880s, 1980s

  14. Image: Bronze statue of a mans upper body

    Farnese Hercules

    One of three statues given to Adelaide by WA Horn, Hercules was unveiled in October 1892 in Victoria Square. 

    Historical Thing | By Madeleine Ryan and Pat Stretton, History Trust of South Australia | Parklands | 1890s, early twentieth century, early twenty–first century, late twentieth century, mid twentieth century

  15. Image: World War One recruitment tour

    First World War

    The tragedy of war was compounded by disturbance on the homefront in wartime and post-war reconstruction activities.

    Historical Event | By Wilfrid Prest, Kerrie Round & Carol Fort | 1910s, 1920s, 1930s

  16. Women arranging flowers on the ground with buildings in the background

    Flower Day

    Every year between 1938 and 1975 Adelaidians showed pride in their city by beautifying it with mass displays of flowers on National Flower Day.

    Historical Event | By John Davis | North Terrace | 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s

  17. Image: row boat decorated with flowers

    Henley-on-Torrens Regatta

    In 1910 thousands of people lined the Torrens to see the carnival of lavishly decorated boats in the first Henley-on-Torrens Regatta

    Historical Event | By Corinne Ball, Migration Museum | Parklands, River Torrens | 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000-2010, 2010s

  18. Image: Man removing his shoes for prayer

    Islamic Festivals in 1890s Adelaide

    The Adelaide Mosque, the oldest in Australia, has been the centre of Islamic festivals since the 1890s

    Historical Event | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | Southwest corner | 1890s

  19. Image: John Jefferson Bray Memorial Fountain

    John Jefferson Bray Memorial Fountain

    The John Jefferson Bray Memorial Fountain commemorates the life of a senior judge, scholar and poet

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | Southeast corner | 1910s, 1930s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1990s

  20. Statue of John McDouall Stuart, unveiled 4 June 1904

    John McDouall Stuart statue

    The statue of inland explorer John McDouall Stuart at the corner of Victoria Square and Flinders Street, Adelaide, commemorates his place in Australian history

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton and Mandy Paul, History Trust of South Australia | 1830s, 1840s, 1850s, 1860s, 1890s, 1900-1910, 1960s

  21. Statue of King Edward VII on North Terrace, showing original placement on roadway, 1920

    King Edward VII Memorial

    Creating and installing King Edward VII’s statute took eight months longer than the period of his reign

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | North Terrace | 1880s, 1890s, 1900-1910, 1920s

  22. Knot sculpture

    Knot

    The shining steel and simple form of Knot typifies the work of sculptor Herbert (Bert) Flugelman.

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | North Terrace | 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000-2010, 2010s

  23. Image: stone fountain shaped like bathtub in front of stone buildings

    Lavington Bonython fountain

    Affectionately known as the ‘Bonython bath’, this fountain stood outside the South Australian Museum from 1965 to 2005

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | North Terrace | 1870s, 1890s, 1900-1910, 1920s, 1930s, 1960s

  24. Australian Light Horse Memorial, 2010

    Light Horse Memorial

    Remembering South Australian Light Horsemen who served in Egypt and Palestine and at Gallipoli

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton & Bernard O'Neil, History Trust of South Australia | North Terrace | 1890s, 1900-1910, 1910s, 1920s, Boer War, early twenty–first century

  25. Lord Florey, 2013

    Lord Florey bust

    Adelaide-born Lord Florey won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1945 for his part in making the infection-fighting penicillin available

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | North Terrace | 1890s, 1920s, 1940s, 1960s

  26. Image: William Magarey

    Magarey Medal

    An award for the ‘fairest and most brilliant player’ in South Australia’s major Australian Rules football competition

    Historical Thing | By Bernard Whimpress | 1890s, early twentieth century, early twenty–first century, late twentieth century, mid twentieth century

  27. Mary Lee, 2013

    Mary Lee bust

    ‘My aim is to leave the world better for women’ – Mary Lee was an activist, suffragist and unionist

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | North Terrace | 1870s, 1880s, 1890s, 1900-1910, 1990s

  28. Image: sculpture of standing man in nineteenth century costume

    Matthew Flinders Memorial

    A statue to honour Matthew Flinders, the first explorer to circumnavigate Australia, was a long time coming in Adelaide

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | North Terrace | 1790s, 1800-1810, 1840s, 1900-1910, 1920s, 1930s

  29. Black and white image of old museum display showing large wooden plinth with staircase on top.

    Miniature Staircase- Newmarket Hotel

    This scale model of the spiral staircase in the Newmarket Hotel is just 600 millimetres high, but represents months of careful craftwork. It was made by a young man named Walton Banks and exhibited at the Adelaide Jubilee International Exhibition in 1887.

    Historical Thing | By Mandy Paul, History Trust of South Australia | North Terrace | 1880s, 1890s, 1900-1910

  30. Image: steel quadrangle-shaped sculpture with rounded edges and a geometric hole in the middle

    Owen Broughton Sculpture

    This Owen Broughton work won the 1976 Rundle Mall sculpture contest alongside Bert Flugelman's Mall's Balls and John Dowie's Girl on a Slide. 

    Historical Thing | By Hannah Stewart, History Trust of South Australia | 1970s, 1980s, 2000-2010

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