1910c Elizabeth Street

A photograph of the southern end of Elizabeth Street looking south towards Flinders Street Station sometime around 1910. Photographer unknown.

We see a busy street with lots of horse-drawn buggies and drays and cable trams. Hosie's Hotel & Cafe is on the corner of Elizabeth and Flinders Streets, and you can still get a beer there today. Connell's Hotel is on the corner of Flinders Lane on the right hand side, previously known as the "Railway Hotel", and the name is still faintly visible. The beautiful Australian Building, also on the right hand side, was the world's 3rd tallest building when completed in 1889, and for 40 years was Melbourne's tallest building until 1929 (unfortunately this historic building was demolished in 1980). Due to its incredible and dizzying height at the time (12 floors), it needed elevators, which were hydraulically powered using water from the Yarra river.

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The notes from the State Library tell us that this image is "Looking along Elizabeth Street towards Flinders Street, railway station building with clock tower in background, heavy traffic of trams and horse drawn vehicles in street, pedestrians on foot paths."

This is a digitally retouched reproduction of the original held by the State Library of Victoria. All prints are reproduced without the HOTPRESS watermarks.

Our team of conservators have worked on a high resolution digital image in order to remove blemishes and artifacts such as stains, mould, scratches and damage caused by the handling of the original. We strive to provide authentic representations of the original work that are suitable for enlargements that retain the tones and character of the original.