Walking TrailAdelaide | South Australia

Governmentof South Australia

Multicultural

Shoppers at the ‘Continental Food Products’ stall, Central Market, 1965

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Walking TrailHistorical

Multicultural AdelaideAdelaide | South Australia

South West Corner

This walk offers a glimpse of the multi-cultural history of Adelaide through our built heritage.

Begin the walk at Victoria Square.

Allow one hour at a medium pace to do this walk

Sturt Street School and its pupils, 1907

Indigenous people have lived in South Australia for at least40,000 years. The Kaurna people lived on the land whereAdelaide now stands and they are its traditional owners and custodians. The Kaurna people bore the brunt ofland dispossession when non-Indigenous people came toSouth Australia.

South Australia was established as a British colony in 1836.Many migrants have therefore come from Britain and theyhave influenced the social, political, economic, religious andcultural life of the State.

By 1900, German settlers and their descendants made upabout ten percent of South Australia's population. Most went to farming districts, but those settling in Adelaideopened businesses, hotels and clubs and became involved in the political, musical and cultural life of the city.

At the same time the Commonwealth Immigration Restriction Act (1901), also known as the White AustraliaPolicy, consolidated restrictions previously in force in theAustralian colonies, to severely limit non-white immigrants.As a consequence Chinese and ‘Afghan’ residents declined in numbers. Prior to World War One Lebanese settlers, manyof whom had been hawkers in rural areas, moved into thewestern parts of the city. In the 1920s and 30s they werejoined by Italian, Greek and Maltese new arrivals.

From the late 1940s to the early 1970s, in order to expandindustries and ensure its security, Australia accepted threemillion immigrants from all parts of Europe includingwartime refugees known as 'Displaced Persons'. The arrival of these immigrants changed the cultural life of Adelaide.They introduced the mainly British-based population to a richarray of cultural traditions including new foods, languages,festivals and religious practices, influenced Adelaide'sarchitecture, and contributed to the city's economic activity.

In 1973 Australia discarded the White Australia Policy. Sincethen, immigrants from India, China, South-East Asia, thePacific and Africa have migrated here. Nonetheless, in 2002Britain and Ireland still supplied the greatest number ofAustralian migrants.

In the 1970s, following the Vietnam War, many Vietnameserefugees settled in the west of Adelaide. At the Central Marketin the city, new Asian grocery stores enticed many Adelaideresidents to try Asian foods. In the 1990s, as the generationof Greek, Italian and Bulgarian market gardeners retired,Vietnamese and Cambodian growers began supplying freshproduce to Adelaide and national markets.

Adelaide's beginnings as a British city can still be seen in itspublic buildings and street names. But now the people ofAdelaide acknowledge their Indigenous heritage, and thecultural traditions brought to South Australia from manydifferent countries around the world.

This Western Adelaide walk is the first of several planned to exploreAdelaide's immigration history and diverse cultural heritage. The focus ofthis walk is mainly on Adelaide's non-Indigenous history. The KaurnaWalking Trail produced by the Graham F Smith Peace Trust incollaboration with Aboriginal Education, DECS, presents the history of Adelaide from a Kaurna perspective. This booklet is available from Tandanya, 253 Grenfell Street, Adelaide, tel: 8224 3200, fax: 82243250.

Victoria Square, c. 1930s

1. Victoria Square/TarndanyanggaLocated in the area known to Kaurna people asTarndanyangga. This site was designed by Colonel Light as a central feature of the new city of Adelaide. You can seemonuments erected by later British settlers to mark theircolonial history and heritage. On the north side, there is thestate survey mark in the form of a commemorative plaqueestablished for South Australia’s 150th Jubilee. This is areference point for all distances and co-ordinates in South Australia.

The 'Square' was separated into two halves to allow for a thoroughfare and it was used for recreational purposes.The two halves were fenced in separately and landscaped with hundreds of trees and pathways as formal public gardensfrom 1854. Since then the Square has been repeatedly alteredto accommodate a growing city. In 1966, it was changed into 'an elliptical diamond shape' to cope with the increasingnumber of cars.

2. Adelaide Central Market, betweenGrote and Gouger streets

Opened in 1869, this is a favourite place for both locals andtourists. Immigrants from many countries have long been part of the market community and the variety of produce reflects this diversity and the patterns of migration.

Angelakis Brothers, east side, one of Adelaide's well-knownfish retailers, continue a business first established by Greekimmigrant Michael Angelakis who came out from Symi, in theDodecanese group of Islands in 1924.

Lucia's Pizza Bar, west side, one of Adelaide's most lovedItalian eating places was opened by Pasquale Rosella in 1958.He first came to Australia as an Italian Prisoner of War during World War Two. After repatriation he migrated here from the province of Benevento with his wife Lucia in1952. Their children and grandchildren will still serve you afine cappuccino.

Stalls, shops and restaurants owned by members of theVietnamese and Chinese communities date from the early1980s. They now form the nucleus of China Town, west side.Asian food items have become an integral part of theAustralian diet. A new Australian cuisine known as 'fusion'combines European and Asian styles of cooking.

Stalls specialising in smallgoods and cakes from northernEurope are interspersed throughout the market. WaldemarWajtas who came from Nowysacz, near Krakow, Poland in1983, sells homemade poppyseed cake at his Sevenhill FineFoods stall.

3. Market StreetEmporium India at the northern end of this street is a focusfor Adelaide's Indian community. The business was opened in1992 by the Odhavji family who migrated here from Nadi, Fijiin 1974. Hindi, Tamil, Punjabi and Malayalam videos can behired here and you can also buy Indian garments, costumejewellery and handicrafts. Across the road Maya's Indianrestaurant specialises in a range of Indian foods such asdhosas, idlis and Bengali sweets.

4. Hellenic Club 311 – 315 MorphettStreet, west side

These three properties have been part of the Greekcommunity since 1953 when a deli and club opened at No 311 for migrants from the Peloponnisos region.By 1971 the precinct included an Hellenic Club managed by barber, H Paraskevas. These clubrooms continue to be well patronised. Members enjoy meeting for coffee,a game of cards and Tavlin, a dice game.

5. 181 Sturt StreetAfghani, Hajj Mohammed Alam Khan born in Kandahar in the late 1850s once lived here. In the 1880s he migrated toWestern Australia and worked there for the next 40 years as a camel driver, miner and trader. In the later half of thenineteenth century several hundred Northern Indian men,known collectively as 'Afghans', worked in the Australianoutback transporting supplies and produce. On moving toAdelaide, Mohammed Alam worked as a herbalist and healer.He was known as 'a generous philanthropist, devout Muslimand stylish dresser'. He died in 1964 and was believed to beabout 106 years of age.

Nanyeta’s Gypsy Taverne was opened here by Romani, MarniMoroshovesti, on New Year's Eve of 1992 and closed in2002. For a while it was the South Australian headquarters of Romani International Australia and the Australian RomaniSchool of Gypsy Culture and Language that represented the20,000 strong Romani community in Australia.

6. Mosque – Little Gilbert StreetIts minarets make this one of the most distinctive buildings in this part of the city. The Mosque dates from 1889 with thedistinctive minarets added in 1903. It was initially financed bya group of about 100 'Afghan' camel drivers working in theremote parts of South Australia so that they could attendreligious services at least once a year. The building is SouthAustralia's first permanent mosque and it is still used byAustralian Muslims from many different backgrounds.

Adelaide Mosque, late 20C

7. Sturt Street School, 221 – 239 Sturt Street

From 1883 this school educated the large numbers of childrenliving in the south-western corner of the city. Following World War Two there was a large influx of migrants fromnon-English speaking European countries and many of theirchildren attended this school. As a consequence the schoolbecame a focus for programs for children from non-Englishspeaking backgrounds. This special curriculum continueduntil the school was closed in 1996. The school is reopeningin 2004.

8. Prince Albert Hotel, 254 – 256 Wright Street

This hotel was established by Ludwig Dreyer, a Germansettler, in 1851 and named after Queen Victoria's German-born husband Prince Albert. As a result of her marriage tohim many German-born South Australians felt an affinity with the English monarchy. The hotel was associated with the Dreyer family until the mid-1970s.

9. 'Dunmoochin' – 1 Maud StreetIrish immigrants John and Honora Griffin built this cottage in the mid 1850s and it was owned by their family until 1913.John was a labourer and his son was a saddler and collarmaker. Their tiny dwelling, along with row cottages, wastypical of the housing that Adelaide working class migrantfamilies lived in.

10. Archbishop's House, corner of GroteStreet and West Terrace

This house was built in 1845 for the Catholic Church fromplans drawn up by G.S. Kingston, designer of GovernmentHouse and the Adelaide Gaol. At this time South AustralianCatholics were mainly from Irish backgrounds. The presentArchbishop of Adelaide resides here.

11. St Patrick's Catholic Church, 254 Grote Street

The original church was consecrated in 1845 by the firstCatholic Bishop of Adelaide, Dr. Francis Murphy. Masses held at this Church were a spiritual focal point for the manyIrish Catholics who were then living in the western part ofAdelaide. The foundation stone for the present building onthis site was laid in November 1912. This church now servesthe Croatian and Indonesian Catholic communities.

12. Gray StreetLittle remains of the many tiny row homes that were once tobe found along Gray Street. The original subdivision in thispart of the city built by early speculator WH Gray in the1840s created homes for those of limited means. Over thedecades it became a neighbourhood filled with new migrantsfrom places such as Italy, Greece and Lebanon.

14. St Mary's Dominican Convent,253 Franklin Street

The basis of the present building was opened in 1867. FatherTenison Woods and the Blessed Mary MacKillop, founders of the Sisters of St. Joseph, established a convent and schoolfor poor children at this site. In 1871 Mary MacKillop wastemporarily excommunicated from the Church. During thistime the premises were transferred to the Irish order of theDominican sisters who enlarged the convent buildings andfurther developed the school.

13. Church of Archangels Michael andGabriel, 282 – 288 Franklin Street

This Greek Orthodox Church and its locality are associatedwith the Kastellorizian (Castellorian) Greek community whocome from the tiny island of Kastelloria located to the east of Rhodes. Following the Greco-Turkish War of 1921 – 1922most of the Islanders lost their homes and many migrated toAustralia. The first Orthodox building on this site wasinaugurated in 1937. In 1957 a Greek Community Centre wasopened and used for numerous educational, cultural and socialactivities. Gradually the original church became too small andthe present structure, influenced by Byzantine architecture,was erected in 1966.

For more information about other walks contact:

Adelaide City CouncilCustomer Centre

Telephone: 8203 7203 or www.adelaidecitycouncil.com

Photos courtesy ofAdelaide City Council Archives

Photographic Collectionand History Trust of South Australia

Glass Negatives Collection

Produced by Adelaide City Council,Department for Environment and Heritage and the History Trust of South Australia.

Initial research, Pat Sumerling.

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