Timeline of Adelaide's History: 19 Hundreds

 

 

Early 1900s

1900:  First electricity station opened in South Australia at Grenfell Street. Electric street lights first appear. 4th December: Major fire at Alfred Stump's photographic studios, King William Street

1901:  Adelaide became a state capital upon the establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia on 1st of January. The Duke and Duchess of York visited.  April: Major fire at John Martin & Co. Ltd., retail store, Rundle Street.

1904:  Adelaide Fruit and Produce Exchange opened in the East End.  (1988 moved to the suburb of Pooraka)

1907:  5th February 1907 Harrold, Colton & Co. (became Colton, Palmer & Preston Ltd.), Currie Street.

1908:  Outer Harbour opened. Adelaide High School established.

1909:  Electric tram service began.

 

1910s

1910:  16 November: Major fire at Genders Building, Grenfell Street (on Hindmarsh Square corner).

1912:  The Verco Building, an early 'Skyscraper', is built on North Terrace (Street No: 178-179).

1913:  The first metropolitan abattoir opens. 23rd November: Major fire at Lion Timber Mills, Franklin Street

1914:  Planting of first memorial to the Great War, the Wattle Day League War Memorial Oak.

1915:  Liquor bars close at 6 pm following a referendum. Australasia's first national Gallipoli Memorial established in the Adelaide Park Lands, 7th September 1915 – the Australian Wattle Day League's Gallipoli Memorial Wattle Grove with its centrepiece 'Australasian Soldiers Dardanelles April 25th, 1915' obelisk (now known as the Dardanelles Cenotaph)

1917: German private schools are closed. The first trains travel to Perth following completion of the East-West continental railway.

1919:  Adelaide is awarded official city status and Mayor Charles Richmond Glover becomes the first Lord Mayor.  2nd February: Major fire at W. H. Burford & Son's soap and candle factory, Sturt Street

 

 

1920s

1923:  21st February: Major fire at Duncan & Fraser Ltd and Duncan's Motors Ltd., Ford importers.

1924:  Radio Broadcasting begins. The first Stobie Poles were erected in South Terrace. (It was invented by Adelaide Electricity Supply Company design engineer James Cyril Stobie (1895 - 1953).  It is now commonly regarded as a South Australian icon.)   26th April: Major fire aboard steamer City of Singapore at Port Adelaide. 10th November: Major fire at Richards Building, Chrysler body builders, importers Currie Street.

 

 

1925:  The Wayville Showgrounds open.

1926:  1st January: Major fire at Adelaide Fruit and Produce Exchange, East End Market. 24th February: Major fire at Colonial Sugar Refinery works at Glanville.

1927:  The North-South railway is extended. The Duke and Duchess of York visit.

1928:  2000 special constables sworn in to break a strike of dock workers. The volunteer "Citizen's Defence Brigade" had been brought in and armed to fight striking port workers, and they were housed in a camp dubbed the "scab compound".

1929:  The electric tram service to Glenelg commences.

 

1930s

1931:  The Beef Riot: 17 people are injured when unemployed men clash with police while protesting the decision to remove beef from the dole ration.

1932:  Local Government is overhauled when Government redefines boundaries and names and abolishes others.

1933:  The First Adelaide Christmas Pageant is organised by John Martins. (I believe the best Department store in Australia and Adelaide until it was bought out by another department store (which will remain nameless) and they closed it down. Ruining what was and still remained in my eyes, the best store in Australia. It had whatever you wanted, in any price range to suit your budget. Today, I have not found a store that offers the same quality service and price range or competitive pricing.)

1935:  Many German place names, which had been changed during the Great War (World War One), most were restored.  28th April: Major fire at Thompson & Harvey Ltd., paint, glass and wallpaper merchants, Flinders Street

1936:  Centennial Park Cemetery opens. Grand celebrations are held to celebrate South Australia's Centenary. 11th August: Major fire at Torrenside Woollen Mills, Taylor's Road (now South Road), West Thebarton

1937: First trolley bus services commence. First permanent traffic signals are installed. Mount Bold Reservoir is opened. Outbreak of poliomyelitis.

1938:  South Australian Housing Trust completes first dwelling. 19th January: Major fire at People's Palace, (Salvation Army hostel) Pirie Street. 9th June: Major fire at Adelaide Stock Exchange call room.

1939:  Worst heat wave is recorded with disastrous bushfires and highest Adelaide temperature of 46.1° Celsius. New Parliament House is opened on North Terrace by Governor-General Lord Gowrie. Carrick Hill, home of Edward (later Sir Edward) and Ursula Hayward, is completed. 14th December: Major fire at Lion Timber Mills, Port Adelaide.

 

1940s

1940:  Birkenhead Bridge opened. Second industry rapidly expanded throughout Adelaide region and South Australia at large as the war-effort intensified. 21st October: Major fire at Dunlop Perdriau Rubber Co., Flinders Street

1942:  Rationing of tea and clothing introduced. Race sports and bookmaking banned.

1943:  Rationing of butter introduced. Racing re-allowed.

1944: Rationing of meat introduced.

1945:  Gas and electricity restrictions imposed.

1947:  Orchards ripped up following discovery of fruit fly in the metropolitan area.

1948:  Glenelg Jetty destroyed and widespread damage caused by severe storms. Clothing and meat rationing abolished. Holden began production. 2 March: Major fire at Charles Moore & Co.'s retail store, Victoria Square.

 

 

1950s

1950:  Petrol, butter and tea rationing abolished.

1954:  Adelaide was hit by a severe earthquake on 1st March. Queen Elizabeth II made her first sovereign visit to Adelaide. Mannum-Adelaide pipeline completed, pumping water from the River Murray to metropolitan reservoirs. The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, located in western suburb of Woodville South, opens.

1955:  Adelaide Airport at West Beach opened. Satelitte City of Elizabeth officially proclaimed. Redhen Rail Cars make their first appearance on Adelaide's suburban rail network. (Wow, I remember in the early 1980's riding on these Redhen Rail Cars - I thought they were old but I loved them. They bring back fond memories and how I wish they were still around today. I preferred them to the new Jumbo Trains (We called them Super Trains) they introduced in the 80's I believe, but didn't see one until mid 80's. They just weren't for me and I would try and catch a Redhen as much as I could.)   Black Sunday bushfires destroy the Governor's summer residence at Marble Hill.