mid nineteenth century

Image: sculpture of black stone with water

14 Pieces

Recalling the ancient Ichthyosaur, this sculpture invites interaction

Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | North Terrace | 2000-2010

14 Pieces Fountain- South Australian Museum

14 Pieces is a sculpture fountain based on the opalised fossilised vertebrae of the Ichthyosaur in the South Australian Museum.

Historical Thing | By South Australian School for Vision Impaired (SASVI) | North Terrace | 2000-2010

Image: bronze sculpture of man and woman in uniform

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander War Memorial

Australia’s first memorial to recognise the service of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples was unveiled in Adelaide on 10 November 2013.

Historical Thing | By Mandy Paul, History Trust of South Australia | River Torrens | early twenty–first century

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

Adelaide City Council plaques

Adelaide City Council plaques promote the city’s heritage and some South Australian identities.

Historical Thing | By Bernard O'Neil, History Trust of South Australia | Hindley Street, North Terrace | 1980s, early twenty–first century

August Wilhelm Pelzer Plaque

A plaque to the 'City Gardener' is now obscured in a city garden

Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | North Terrace | 2000-2010

Bill's Fountain- State Library of South Australia

This fountain is a memorial to William Faulding Scammell, AO, CBE who was Chancellor of Adelaide University from 1991 to 1998.

Historical Thing | North Terrace | 2000-2010

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

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

Colonel Light Survey Marker

Colonel William Light’s survey marker from 1837 is to be incorporated in the new Royal Adelaide Hospital site

Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | North Terrace | 1830s, 1920s

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

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

Marble drinking fountain with lawn in the background

J Reedman Memorial Drinking Fountain

The J Reedman Memorial Drinking Fountain was erected in Creswell Gardens on 7 September 1929. It is made of Angaston marble and signifies the achievements of John Cole Reedman, an Australian sports legend.

Historical Thing | By Madeleine Ryan, History Trust of South Australia | Parklands | 1920s

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Image: Narisha Cash's Ngadlu Padninthi Kamanka mural (2017)

Ngadlu Padninthi Kamangka (We Walk Together) mural

Narisha Cash's mural acknowledges and celebrates the Kaurna people as the traditional owners and custodians of Adelaide and the Adelaide plains.

Historical Thing | By Catherine Barron, History Trust of South Australia | North Terrace | 2010s, Aboriginal Country pre-contact, early twenty–first century

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

Crumpled bronze bag on plinth with grass and plants nearby

Paper Bag

Michelle Nikou's bronze sculpture stands in almost comic contrast with the plinths that populate North Terrace further west.

Historical Thing | By Catherine Barron, History Trust of South Australia | North Terrace | 2010s, early twenty–first century

Image: a long, narrow tourist boat with a canvas roof is moored at a concrete dock with a metal railing.

Popeye

'Popeye the Sailor' was a popular cartoon at the cinema in the 1930s when Gordon Watts introduced a tourist pleasure craft on the River Torrens

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

Image: close-up of inside surfaces of the touchstone.

Reconciliation Touchstone

The red granite sculpture captures the plaster imprints of 64 handshakes made at a Reconciliation Week ceremony in 2006.

Historical Thing | By Catherine Barron, History Trust of South Australia | North Terrace | 2000-2010, Aboriginal Country pre-contact, early twenty–first century

Image: The multimedia screen emits a rainbow of colors over nighttime pedestrians

Rundle Lantern

The Rundle Lantern is 100% green-powered and the light show is carbon neutral.

Historical Thing | By Hannah Stewart, History Trust of South Australia | Rundle Street east | 2000-2010

Bronze bust of Douglas Mawson by Adelaide sculptor John Dowie, 1981

Sir Douglas Mawson bust

The spirit of Antarctic explorer and professor of geology, Sir Douglas Mawson, is captured in the bust by John Dowie

Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | North Terrace | 1880s, 1900-1910, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1980s

Sir Lawrence Bragg bust

The bust of Sir Lawrence Bragg commemorates a South Australian Nobel Laureate

Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | North Terrace | 1890s, 1900-1910, 1910s, 1970s, 2000-2010, 2010s

Sir Mellis Napier bust

The bronze bust of Sir Mellis Napier, sculpted by eminent South Australian artist John Dowie, commemorates his distinguished community service, including to the law and legal profession in South Australia

Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | North Terrace | 1880s, 1890s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s

Image: Bronze statue of a man atop a granite pillar

Sir Ross Smith Memorial

The Sir Ross Smith Memorial commemorates the achievements of aviator Sir Ross Smith and the first flight from England to Australia.