Unseen Adelaide – Page 17 of 45

April 28, 2016

Urban Exploring: Ye Olde Telephone Exchange

Adelaide‘s first Telephone Exchange was originally set up inside Adelaide’s General Post Office (GPO). Crammed into the back corner of the building, it started operation on the 14th of May 1883 with 48 subscribers — largely made up of business and government users.

Demand grew for the new service, and by the end of 1883, nearly a thousand miles of telephone lines had been strung.

Urban Exploring Ye Olde Telephone Exchange — Awesome Adelaide — Telegraph poles line King William Street, Adelaide ~ 1895. (Photo courtesy State Library of South Australia)

By August 1894 demand had grown so much new multiple-switchboards with increased capacity were installed. Women became central to the network.

The Telephone Exchange moved into its own building in 1908, outgrowing the GPO. However, elements of its early beginnings still remain elsewhere…

Down a dark and musty hallway, through secured and prohibitory doorways, lies its decaying infrastructure. Spiders (more than people) get to see more of this place now; quietly stringing their cobwebs together, working on catching their next meal, oblivious to their immensely historical surrounds.

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April 17, 2016

Urban Exploring: Garth’s Bistro

We’ve been quietly visiting Garth’s Bistro on-and-off for over two years now. As far as we can tell, Garth just loves to hoard things. And he’s particularly fond of boats.

Some here are over a century old. They would have once carried people across oceans; possibly with a promise of a new beginning.

Once we’ve outlived our usefulness, what’s to become of us? Will someone cherishingly hoard us? Or will we be forgotten, like others before us, like bottles on the sea.

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April 10, 2016

Urban Exploring: Heather’s Passage

Early Adelaide buildings were often made up of independent structures connected by underground service tunnels.

Heather’s Passage is one such tunnel. Built in the late 1800s, service persons would use this 1m wide by 2m high tunnel to access different sections of the building above.

In the event of a fire, the tunnel would also be used as a fire escape.

Know of a similar tunnel? Contact us. Confidentiality and location privacy assured.

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