One of South Australia's first seaside towns.
Victor Harbor began its life as a whaling station and then port for the cargo that was transported down the Murray River. Once commercial activity decreased, the town became popular with Adelaide residents as a seaside retreat. A great deal of the attraction lay in the milder summer weather. It can be 40 degrees Celsius or more in Adelaide and at Victor Harbor the temperature is in the high 20s!
Tourists started to arrive in the later part of the 19th century and it made good business sense to cater for those tourists. Accommodation was built, some of it still standing today.
The Hotel Grosvenor was built in 1896, to be ready for the 1897 summer season. It's around the corner from the train station and close to the beach. It was state of the art modern when it was built and it boasted the first gaslit rooms in a hotel in South Australia.
The Anchorage is an old guesthouse which has been restored and still offers accommodation now. It's directly opposite the beach.
Platform at the Victor Harbor train station. Holiday makers and the locals would arrive by train from Adelaide or the surrounding area. It's still used nowadays for the arrival and departure of the 'Cockle train' the stream powered train, travelling between Victor Harbor and Goolwa.
The platform has been 'dressed' to resemble what the platform was like during the height of rail transport to and from Victor.
Local people realised that they had a rather large group that would disembark at Victor. Small shops attached to a residence began to appear, ready to trade with the passengers as they left the train station.
The area outside the train station is now a carpark, but I imagine in it would have been a busy area with horse drawn vehicles. Then opposite the train station, a row of shops with their residences attached.
The window display is a historical one with photographs and items from the shop's past.
It's a pretty little area to walk through, giving an idea of what life was like over a century ago in a small country town by the seaside.
Victor Harbor began its life as a whaling station and then port for the cargo that was transported down the Murray River. Once commercial activity decreased, the town became popular with Adelaide residents as a seaside retreat. A great deal of the attraction lay in the milder summer weather. It can be 40 degrees Celsius or more in Adelaide and at Victor Harbor the temperature is in the high 20s!
Tourists started to arrive in the later part of the 19th century and it made good business sense to cater for those tourists. Accommodation was built, some of it still standing today.
The Hotel Grosvenor was built in 1896, to be ready for the 1897 summer season. It's around the corner from the train station and close to the beach. It was state of the art modern when it was built and it boasted the first gaslit rooms in a hotel in South Australia.
Local people realised that they had a rather large group that would disembark at Victor. Small shops attached to a residence began to appear, ready to trade with the passengers as they left the train station.
The area outside the train station is now a carpark, but I imagine in it would have been a busy area with horse drawn vehicles. Then opposite the train station, a row of shops with their residences attached.
The window display is a historical one with photographs and items from the shop's past.
It's a pretty little area to walk through, giving an idea of what life was like over a century ago in a small country town by the seaside.
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