Archives Outside

For people who love, use and manage archives

Archives Outside - For people who love, use and manage archives

Can you date this photograph? [Newcastle – an aerial view]

With such a fantastic effort from the Novocastrians on a recent “Can you date?” we thought we’d challenge you with another Newcastle-themed photo!

This is an aerial view of Lee Wharf in Newcastle.

Can you date this photograph?

Larger version on Flickr

We have many other undated photographs in Photo Investigator and on our Flickr account. If know the dates or any other interesting facts about these images please let us know.

  • russellr50 says:

    The following buildings are present in the photograph:
    – Northumberland Building Society (Hunter & Burwood St) demolished 1938,
    – Corona Building (Hunter St) built 1935
    – Segenhoe (Wolfe St) built 1936,
    – possibly start of State Dockyard (1938?)
    – Great Northern Hotel (Scott St) – status not clear – completed 1938

    From the length and direction of the shadow of the City hall clock tower, and the time shown (3:40?), & using the calculations from
    http://www.ga.gov.au/bin/geodesy/run/sunmoonposn

    I think that the photo was taken mid afternoon, in late July, 1936 to 1938.

    November 19, 2012 at 11:06 pm
  • Anthea Brown says:

    That’s very impressive, thanks russellr50! For those of you who are interested, russellr50 has added great value to the Flickr version of this photo with the “Notes” tool and identified many buildings. There are several comments on Flickr, too. By putting our heads together we’re currently looking at a date range of 1936-1938.

    November 22, 2012 at 12:15 pm