industrial annandale
No. 61 SE Cnr Reserve Street
This quite substantial building on the corner of Reserve Street, currently occupied by a cafe, was built in about 1899 and operated as a grocery until at least the 1950’s and likely until quite recently.
Patrick Kearney, the initial proprietor, traded until about 1915. After several other proprietors TJ Forsythe took over the business and operated it until the late 40’s.
annandale street.
East side.
Second only to Johnston Street in its width and length, Annandale Street is one of the suburb’s most elegant streets. While like Johnston Street to the east, it was planned for the construction of grand houses on very large allotments (particularly north of Reserve Street) this vision was only partly realised as most of the original lots were further subdivided and factories and other commercial concerns moved into portions of the street from the late 19th century.
A number of the larger factories have left no trace and those sites are commonly occupied by modern apartments. In keeping with the approach outlined above, the following survey is generally confined to sites that bear some trace of their former commercial use. However, a prominent example of a now erased industrial site along the street is No. 105 once the site of both the T Chapman & Sons saw making factory (in addition to their premises in Young Street of which traces remain) and the Adams Bros. fibre suit case factory.
No. 221
The old fire station was completed in 1919*. I have not discovered when it ceased operation. It may seem odd that it was built so close to an early 20th century building now called “Brigade” and located at 65 Johnston Street. The answer seems to be that “Brigade” may never have actually been a fire station: see below.
*For further information about its construction see da Cruz, Annandale’s Great War page 27.
No. 225 SE Cnr Piper Street
This two storey corner store with a rear extension, just north the old fire station, was built in around 1905 and operated as a greengrocer’s under several proprietors until about 1925 when it became a confectioners. It reverted to a grocery, and later a mixed business, from the mid 1930s. From the early 1940s’ it also housed a milk vendor, possibly in the rear of the shop along Annandale Street.
No. 291 NE Cnr Rose Street
This prominent local landmark, now housing a well known cafe, bears the date 1893. Miss Margaret Smith was its first occupant. She ran what must have been a large grocery business but seems to have sold the business after only a couple of years.
After an interim proprietor, the Kirwan family acquired the business in 1897 and ran the grocery almost continuously until about 1915 when it was acquired by Charles McKeown. The McKeown family operated the business until the mid 1940s at which time Purcell & Son acquired it. The photos which follow indicate that at some point from the 1950's the store was run by P&T Cainero. Locals recall that the store was run by the Pavan family for many years up to its closure in 2006. For some years prior to its closure as a general store in 2006 it had operated partly as a cafe. Shortly after it ceased operation as a general store it was reborn as Revolver Cafe.
The photos below, taken on the general store's last day by long time Annandale resident and artist Louise Cox , capture something of the store's history and reveal the identity of former proprietors, the Cainero's.
No. 293
This former butcher’s shop sits immediately beside the former grocers on the corner of Rose Street. It bears the date 1896 and was occupied from that time by a succession of butchers. The Dunnett family operated the business from the early 1930’s until at least the 1950’s. The butcher’s shop remained in operation until the late 1970’s and possibly into the 1980’s.
No. 349 NE Cnr Kentville Avenue
This corner shop, complete with original awning, is located towards the northern end of Annandale Street. The site was part of the last major subdivision in Annandale after the demolition of the Young family property, Kentville, in the early 20th century. Sands does not list any properties north of Weynton St until after 1910 and the first reference to a grocery appears in about 1925 (although in Sands editions published in the early 20’s it was common to list only residents’ names and to omit any business description and so the shop may date from around 1920, though the style of the building may suggest an earlier date).
A series of grocers and proprietors of mixed businesses occupied the site into the 1950s.
west side.
Nos. 2-4
Though considerably altered over the years, these premises likely date from about 1905 when they were constructed to house the manufacturing confectionery business of Joseph Rosemond. Joseph had conducted a confectionery business in partnership from the late 1800’s at other premises.
Joseph died in the early 1920s. However, the family operated the business until just after the Second World War when it was taken over by Elias & Thomas, clothing manufacturers.
No. 6A NW Cnr Albion Lane
The building probably dates from the mid 1920’s from which time a succession of “estate and business agencies” operated at the site under different names. F Petley, house, land and estate agent, occupied the site from the early 1930’s until at least the 1950’s.
It seems that part of the premises was also occupied by boot and shoe repairers in the 1930’s and 1940’s.
No. 216 NW Cnr Wisdom Street
This building on the corner of Wisdom St consists of a small cottage at the rear with a store facing the corner. The store front retains its charming awning. At the time of writing the building is undergoing a sympathetic renovation.
The building is a bit of an enigma: was the shop front added later?; when did it trade and as what?
Sands suggests that the cottage and store front may have been built at about the same time in about 1910. While several plumbers and the proprietor of a “heating and drying engineering” business occupied the building from that time up to the early 1920s, it not clear if they actually undertook any manufacturing or sales activities from the site. The first clear indication that the shop was in operation is in the early 1920’s when William Paton is listed as a grocer. He traded until the mid 1930’s. It seems that the shop continued to operate as a grocery until the mid 1940’s under a series of proprietors at which time it may have reverted to residential use.
No 258 NW Cnr Piper Street
This shop and associated residence were built in about 1908 when Robert Garrad began to operate a grocery on the site. Thereafter, a series of proprietors operated the grocery until the mid 1940’s.
No. 302 SW Cnr Gray Street
This building is one of the oldest along this stretch of Annandale St. It bears the date 1890 and Sands records that David M Smith operated a grocery at the site from that year.
A series of proprietors followed, with Henry Solterbeck (1909 to the mid 1920’s) one of the longest in occupation.
From around 1930 the store operated as a fruiterer and then in 1935 it reverted to a hairdresser and tobacconist under the long term proprietorship of Edward Fitzgerald who traded into at least the 1950’s.
No. 310A
This unassuming residence does not appear to bear the marks of a former store unless you look carefully.
It was probably built in about 1915 when Nathan Hendricks conducted a retail confectionery business at the site. It may have ceased to operate as a business for some time from the 1930’s. However it is listed as a mixed business in 1950 under the proprietorship of a Mrs Day.
No. 374
This building consists of two parts: a residence at the rear stretching along the south side of Weynton Lane and a recent two storey addition facing Annandale St. Sands suggests that the residence at the rear was built in about 1905. The modern addition may occupy the site of a former shop front. A mixed business operated at the site from about 1935 into the 1950’s.
Arthur Bevan established the store in around 1935 and C Reedy was a proprietor from the late 1930’s and into the 1950’s.