Transport: Major Changes
The streets of southern Dunedin began as
no more than muddy tracks through the swamp.
For long periods in the winter these roads
were impassable. It was not until the 1870s
that the major roads were metalled. By 1885
the main streets had been upgraded to packed
metal, with stone kerbs and cobbled gutters.
Secondary streets were surfaced with loose
gravel but the lesser streets were still
just plain mud. Gradually these surfaces
were improved, footpaths were formed and
street lighting added.
The first half of the twentieth century
was a time of major technological development
in transport. New vehicle types including
bicycles and motorbikes, cars and trucks
were developed. Trams were already well
established across 'the Flat'. These new
forms of transport shared the roads with
pedestrians and a whole range of horse-drawn
vehicles. In fact, there was a wider range
of vehicle types to be seen on southern
Dunedin streets then than at any time before
or since.
A
view west across Caversham Valley to the
area later known as Rockyside, probably
in the late 1860s, shows the existing primitive
roads. The simple wooden cottages with their
corrugated iron roofs and the abundant land,
are obvious. The first hotel in Caversham
(The Edinburgh Castle) is in the centre.
It lost its license in 1894 after the 1893
poll saw a majority of votes for reduction
of hotel licences. (Otago Settlers Museum
Collection)
The
intersection of the main road to St Kilda
(then called Hillside Road) and the road
to Forbury Corner (then called Cargill Road)
was one of Dunedin's busiest. It was long
called Ogg's Corner, after John Ogg, publican
of the Railway Hotel on its south-western
corner. Standing here on any busy morning
between 1890 and 1940 you could expect to
see every imaginable form of road transport
being used in addition to large numbers
of people passing through the corner on
foot. This 1904 photograph shows Ogg's Corner
looking down Cargill Road (the present Prince
Edward Street) towards St Kilda. Ogg's Railway
Hotel is on the right of the intersection
and the building which now houses Tait's
Fabric Centre is on the left. The double
tram lines turn right into Hillside Road
running past the Hillside Workshops to Forbury
Corner before continuing along Forbury Road
to St. Clair. (Hocken Library - Uare Taoka
O Hakena, University of Otago)
The
tram leads up the Main South Road to the
Caversham terminus (opposite Morrison and
Sydney Streets) in this 1913 Muir and Moodie
photograph. Rushworth's confectionary shop,
on the College St Corner, was a great favourite
with the school children. The old Caversham
hall is on the right side of the road. (Hocken
Library - Uare Taoka O Hakena, University
of Otago)
Cargill
Road (now Hillside) marked the boundary
between Caversham, on the right, and South
Dunedin on the left. The horse-drawn tram
from the city to St Clair had operated since
1880 but electrification in 1905, the double
track, and the extension to Caversham township
was completed in 1905 following amalgamation.
The view is towards Forbury Corner and the
southern ridge where it drops into the Playfair
Street gully. St Peter's Anglican Church
is on the right. (Hocken Library - Uare
Taoka O Hakena, University of Otago)
The
rise of the car saw a renewed male dominance
of family transport arrangements, which
the easy access to trams had undermined
in the early part of the century. Women
seldom got to drive the first family-owned
cars. Cars were slow to take hold in any
case - they were too expensive for most
residents of the southern Dunedin suburbs.
Not until 1928 were there enough cars for
the first service station to open (at the
corner of King Edward and Bridgman Streets).
But as the numbers of private cars increased,
the public tramway system steadily declined.
(Wilfred McIndoe and Norris Orchard outside
5 Helena Street, South Dunedin in the 1930s.
Otago Settlers Museum Collection)
[Next:
Tram Travel]
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