I love ‘The Port’ as it is affectionately known in Adelaide. It is one of my favourite places to walk, take photos and sketch. It is full of history with its beautiful old colonial buildings, warehouses and delightfully lived in old houses.
My painting ‘Down The Port’ was inspired by one of my many journeys to Port Adelaide. To photograph and sketch its many beautiful old buildings.
Port Adelaide is the main port for the city of Adelaide. It played an important role in the formative decades of Adelaide and South Australia, with the port being early Adelaide's main supply and information link to the rest of the world.
The effective foundation day of Port Adelaide was 6 January 1837. Its heyday was from the 1840’s to the 1970’s. Harbour facilities expanded and the town grew. It gained an impressive range of commercial and institutional buildings. Many have survived, resulting in Port Adelaide having one of the best concentrations of colonial buildings and beautiful old warehouses in South Australia.
However, throughout the 1970’s and 1980s the popularity of the suburb had declined. The introduction of containerisation in the 1960s had a major impact on the Port, changing cargo handling methods and significantly reducing the size of the local workforce which led to a general decline in population with many parts becoming empty and derelict.
Redevelopment of the waterfront was first publicly discussed in 1975. Over the following years, plans and costs were proposed and discussed but most lapsed without action. However, since 2010 there has been considerable government and private investment in the Port.
One can see and feel the history down at ‘The Port’.