1. 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

  2. Image: blue plaque with logo and text

    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

  3. Image: stone statue of man with hand up to shade his eyes while gazing out

    Captain Charles Sturt Memorial

    Leaning forward and shielding his eyes from the sun, this bronze figure of Sturt looks over Victoria Square, not the land he explored

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | 1830s, 1840s, 1900-1910, 1910s

  4. 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

  5. The Kingston Ministry, c1896

    Charles Cameron Kingston Memorial

    A remarkable and feisty South Australian attorney-general and premier, a father of federation and the first Australian Minster for Trade and Customs is commemorated by this statue

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | 1850s, 1870s, 1880s, 1890s, 1900-1910, 1910s

  6. 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

  7. Colonel Light's Survey Marker Monument

    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

  8. Image: stone cross in park land

    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

  9. 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

  10. 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

  11. Image: John Jefferson Bray Memorial Fountain

    John Jefferson Bray Memorial Fountain

    The John Jefferson Bray Memorial Fountain commemorates the life of a senior judge, scholar and poet

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | Southeast corner | 1910s, 1930s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1990s

  12. 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

  13. Knot sculpture

    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

  14. 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

  15. Australian Light Horse Memorial, 2010

    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

  16. Lord Florey, 2013

    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

  17. Image: William Magarey

    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

  18. 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

  19. 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

  20. 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

  21. 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

  22. 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

  23. Image: Bust of Sir Lawrence Bragg

    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

  24. Sir Mellis Napier bust, 2013

    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

  25. 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. 

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

  26. Sir Samuel Way statue

    Sir Samuel Way Memorial Statue

    A statue of Sir Samuel Way reflects his towering presence in legal, political and cultural circles in the last decades of the nineteenth century.

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | North Terrace | 1850s, 1860s, 1870s, 1880s, 1890s, 1900-1910, 1910s

  27. Image: view of a street corner with telephone box and poles

    Stobie Poles

    Unique to and ubiquitous throughout South Australia, the ugliness of stobie poles is periodically denounced, as also the mortal damage which they can and do inflict on the occupants of any vehicle unlucky enough to strike one at speed. 

    Historical Thing | By Patricia Sumerling and Wilfrid Prest | early twentieth century, early twenty–first century, late twentieth century, mid twentieth century

  28. Image: bronze statue of a young naked boy in running pose

    The Athlete

    Once dubbed 'Adelaide's most active statue' the Athlete is now safely installed in the Lord Mayor's Courtyard. 

    Historical Thing | By Pat Stretton | Central Market, River Torrens, Southwest corner | early twentieth century, early twenty–first century, late twentieth century, mid twentieth century

  29. Image: large white cross next to smaller white tablet

    The Smith Brothers' Grave

    The Smith brothers’ grave is situated in a prominent position adjoining the Bishop Short Memorial Garden alongside the century-old Chapel of the Resurrection at North Road Cemetery. 

    Historical Thing | By Helen Stein, Cemetery Historian | 1920s

  30. Image: two people walking through underground brick-walled rooms

    Tunnels of Adelaide

    Adelaide tunnel tales are a perennial favourite in the popular press, and are cheerfully perpetuated by tour operators and publicans everywhere.

    Historical Thing | By Deb Morgan | 1850s, 1860s, 1870s, 1880s, 1890s, early twentieth century, early twenty–first century, late twentieth century, mid twentieth century

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