The Origins archive

History Hub

Stories from the archive, brought into the present.

bow bridge historical photograph

New York

Central Park’s Romantic Bridge Has an Iron Heart (1862)

liberty torch historical photograph

New York

The Statue of Liberty Torch Visitors Cannot Enter (1916)

Passengers arriving at Ellis Island in 1920

New York

Ellis Island’s Immigration Gateway (1892)

ballarat station clock historical photograph

Ballarat

Ballarat’s Clock Tower Waited Decades for Clocks (1889)

ballarat post office historical photograph

Ballarat

Ballarat’s Post Office Did More Than Deliver Mail (1864)

parliament dome historical photograph

Melbourne

Melbourne’s Grand Parliament Is Still Unfinished (1856)

treasury teenager historical photograph

Melbourne

The Teenager Behind Melbourne’s Old Treasury (1857)

continental sorrento historical photograph

Mornington Peninsula

The Continental and Sorrento’s Holiday Boom (1875)

Ballarat

Lake Wendouree Before the Olympics (c.1925)

Mornington Peninsula

Flinders Pier and the Cable to Tasmania (1869)

Mornington Peninsula

Point Nepean: arriving in Victoria, then waiting at quarantine

New York

The Village Displaced by Central Park (1857)

New York

When trains ran above Third Avenue

mccrae lighthouse historical photograph

Mornington Peninsula

McCrae’s Lighthouse Began in Birmingham (1883)

The Grand Hotel now the Hotel Windsor with twin towers and horse drawn carriages

Melbourne

The Melbourne Hotel That Helped Shape a Nation (1898)

Melbourne

Melbourne’s Fish Market Moved West (1892)

Black Hill Battery in Ballarat around 1900

Ballarat

Black Hill’s Gold Crushing Works (c.1900)

Melbourne

The Tower Allowed Above Melbourne’s Height Limit (1958)

arthurs seat chairlift historical photograph

Mornington Peninsula

The Chairlift That Changed Arthurs Seat (1960)

Ballarat Town Hall and clock tower circa 1910

Ballarat

Ballarat’s Town Hall Was a Mix of Rival Designs (1870)

New York

The Street Corner That Shaped the Flatiron (1902)

New York

Times Square Before the Screens

Melbourne

The Dome Built to Put Melbourne on Show (1880)

Melbourne

How Melbourne Remade the Yarra

Melbourne

How Melbourne’s Cable Trams Moved (1885)

Melbourne

Saturday Nights at Melbourne’s Eastern Market

Ballarat

Why Ballarat’s Gardens Have Italian Statues (1884)

Ballarat

The Women Behind Ballarat’s Arch of Victory (1920)

Ballarat

When Ballarat Became an Olympic Venue (1956)

Ballarat

The Day Ballarat Lost Its Street Trams (1971)

Melbourne

Princes Bridge: Widening the Yarra (1888)

Melbourne

Melbourne’s Bold Idea: A Free Library (1856)

Melbourne

The Melbourne Market Replaced by a Hotel (1960)

New York

Brooklyn’s Famous Photo Spot Before the Crowds (1908)

New York

Wall Street’s Unsolved Bombing (1920)

New York

The Flatiron Before It Became an Icon (1905)

New York

The Newspaper That Named Times Square (1904)

New York

Rockefeller’s Rink Was Meant to Be Temporary (1936)

Original Pennsylvania Station east façade on Seventh Avenue, New York, c.1910–1920, with stone columns, pedestrians and horse-drawn traffic.

New York

1963: New York Demolished This Magnificent Station. Here’s What Replaced It.

Mornington Peninsula

Cape Schanck: the light at the edge of the Peninsula

Melbourne

Melbourne’s GPO Grew With the City (1867)

Ballarat

Craig’s Hotel Before Its Royal Visitor (1866)

Mornington Peninsula

Mornington’s Grand Began Without Beer

Mornington Peninsula

Sorrento’s Lost Steam Tram (1890)

Mornington Peninsula

Dromana Pier’s Steamer Days

Melbourne

The Rise and Fall of the Federal Coffee Palace (1890)

Melbourne

Flinders Street Before Its Famous Dome

Melbourne

The Oldest Photo of Melbourne (1858)