Back when · the exhibition

The beautiful city.

Not the whole roll, the hang. The photographs of Christchurch worth stopping in front of, hung in rooms: the square and its cathedral, the river and its bridges, the street as it was walked, the college and the parks, the way out to the sea and the hills, and the city from above. Every print is a rights-cleared copy from the archive, and every one opens its source record so the caption and the licence can be checked. The whole directory, decade by decade, is back when; today’s photographs live on the wall.

Christchurch, 1923, 1923 — 1923Christchurch, 1923Central City

113 prints in 8 rooms, the exhibition of the directory’s 14,982. Every picture opens its source record.

The Square

14 prints

The city's own room, from 1867, when the cathedral was new and the square was still unpaved, to the fountain, the post office corner, and the memorial the square was rebuilt around. Last frame is 2012: what the earthquakes left of it.

ChristChurch Cathedral southwestern aspect, 2006 — 2006
ChristChurch Cathedral southwestern aspect
Central City

Cathedral Square, Christchurch, 1867 — 1867
Cathedral Square, Christchurch

Looking south from Cathedral Square, 1885 — 1885
Looking south from Cathedral Square
Christchurch Star

Christchurch from the Cathedral Tower, 1885 — 1885
Christchurch from the Cathedral Tower

Chief Post Office, Cathedral Square, 1881 — 1881
Chief Post Office, Cathedral Square

Captain Cook Statue and Bowker Fountain, Christchurch, 1930 — 1930
Captain Cook Statue and Bowker Fountain, Christchurch

Citizens' War Memorial in Cathedral Square, 1930 — 1930
Citizens' War Memorial in Cathedral Square
Central City

Cathedral Square, Christchurch, 1919, 1919 — 1919
Cathedral Square, Christchurch, 1919

[Cathedral Square, Christchurch]., 1920 — 1920
[Cathedral Square, Christchurch].
Roland Searle

Looking down on the Square, 1920 — 1920
Looking down on the Square

Christchurch Cathedral, Cathedral Square, 1960 — 1960
Christchurch Cathedral, Cathedral Square
Scott, Gordon Bruce, 1931-1997

ChristChurch Cathedral at night, 2004 — 2004
ChristChurch Cathedral at night
Greg O’Beirne · Central City

Cathedral Square in the snow, 2005 — 2005
Cathedral Square in the snow
Central City

Christchurch Cathedral, 2012 — 2012
Christchurch Cathedral
geoftheref · Central City

The river

18 prints

The Avon doing what it always did: willows, bridges, boatsheds, the rotunda the Edmonds family gave the city (here seen from V.C. Browne's aeroplane in 1939). Radcliffe's tinted postcards sit beside the photographs they were coloured from.

The Avon, Christchurch, 1910 — 1910
The Avon, Christchurch
Radcliffe, Frederick George, 1863-1923

Avon River, Christchurch, 1852, 1850 — 1850
Avon River, Christchurch, 1852
Barker, Alfred Charles, 1819-1873

Worcester Street Bridge, Christchurch, 1860, 1860 — 1860
Worcester Street Bridge, Christchurch, 1860
Barker, Alfred Charles, 1819-1873

Museum and Avon, Christchurch. From the album: Scenery, 1870 — 1870
Museum and Avon, Christchurch. From the album: Scenery
Daniel Mundy; E. Wheeler & Son

Bridge over the Avon, Christchurch, 1875 — 1875
Bridge over the Avon, Christchurch

The Avon, Christchurch, 1879 — 1879
The Avon, Christchurch

Antigua Boatsheds, 1890 — 1890
Antigua Boatsheds
Christchurch Star · Central City

Avon River and Worcester Street bridge, 1900 — 1900
Avon River and Worcester Street bridge
Central City

Avon River, Christchurch, 1906, 1900 — 1900
Avon River, Christchurch, 1906

The Boat Sheds on the Avon, Christchurch, 1906 — 1906
The Boat Sheds on the Avon, Christchurch
Muir & Moodie

Snow beside the Avon River, 1918 — 1918
Snow beside the Avon River
Central City

Avon River and Canterbury Rowing Club, 1919 — 1919
Avon River and Canterbury Rowing Club
Central City

[Bridge of Remembrance, Christchurch], 1920 — 1920
[Bridge of Remembrance, Christchurch]
Roland Searle

Avon River/Ōtākaro in the Millbrook Reserve, 1928 — 1928
Avon River/Ōtākaro in the Millbrook Reserve
Merivale

Looking down Otakaro-Avon River to Edmonds Band... (PB1901/12), 1939 — 1939
Looking down Otakaro-Avon River to Edmonds Band... (PB1901/12)
V.C. Browne & Son

Edmonds Jubilee Band Rotunda, Christchurch, NZ, 1930 — 1930
Edmonds Jubilee Band Rotunda, Christchurch, NZ

Edmonds Band Rotunda on the River Avon, Christchurch, 1980 — 1980
Edmonds Band Rotunda on the River Avon, Christchurch
Young, Eric William, 1913-1991

Edmonds Band Rotunda on the Avon River, 2004 — 2004
Edmonds Band Rotunda on the Avon River
Greg O’Beirne · Central City

The streets

13 prints

Street level: where people actually walked it. The unpaved Hereford and High Street of the 1870s, the lamps on Oxford Terrace at dusk, the market before it was a square, the facades that filled the blocks between.

Decorative electric lamps on Oxford Terrace, 1930 — 1930
Decorative electric lamps on Oxford Terrace
Municipal Electricity Department · Central City

Photograph: Hereford Street, Christchurch, 1871 — 1871
Photograph: Hereford Street, Christchurch
Alfred Charles Barker

High Street, Christchurch, 1872, 1872 — 1872
High Street, Christchurch, 1872
Barker, Alfred Charles, 1819-1873

Colombo Street looking south, 1874 — 1874
Colombo Street looking south
Christchurch Star

High Street, Christchurch, New Zealand, 1875 — 1875
High Street, Christchurch, New Zealand

Colombo Street, Christchurch, looking South, 1882 — 1882
Colombo Street, Christchurch, looking South

Market Square, 1880 — 1880
Market Square
Central City

Oxford Terrace, Christchurch, N. Z., 1900 — 1900
Oxford Terrace, Christchurch, N. Z.
Central City

Armagh Street, Christchurch, 1919, 1919 — 1919
Armagh Street, Christchurch, 1919

Manchester Street Bridge, Christchurch, 1910 — 1910
Manchester Street Bridge, Christchurch
Radcliffe, Frederick George, 1863-1923

Shops along Colombo Street, towards Cathedral Square, 2004 — 2004
Shops along Colombo Street, towards Cathedral Square
Greg O’Beirne · Central City

Government Buildings, Worcester Street, 2004 — 2004
Government Buildings, Worcester Street
Greg O’Beirne · Central City

Buildings along Tuam Street, 2004 — 2004
Buildings along Tuam Street
Greg O’Beirne · Central City

The moving city

15 prints

How the city got about before the car: the first railway station of 1863, the stagecoach and the tandem bicycle, then fifty years of trams: the new electric at Hereford and High, twenty cars to Sumner dragged by one motor, and the tram that lost to the snowstorm.

A SCENE AT THE CORNER OF HEREFORD STREET AND HIGH STREET, CHRISTCHURCH, SHOWING ONE OF THE NEW ELECTRIC TRAMS, 1905 — 1905
A SCENE AT THE CORNER OF HEREFORD STREET AND HIGH STREET, CHRISTCHURCH, SHOWING ONE OF THE NEW ELECTRIC TRAMS
Auckland Weekly News

Photograph: First Christchurch Railway Station, 1863 — 1863
Photograph: First Christchurch Railway Station

Alfred Ernest Preece and wife Elizabeth Lindsay Preece on a tandem bicycle, 1890 — 1890
Alfred Ernest Preece and wife Elizabeth Lindsay Preece on a tandem bicycle

Addington Railway Workshops, Christchurch, 1898 — 1898
Addington Railway Workshops, Christchurch
Francis Dutch

Steam trams leaving Christchurch for the suburb of Sumner, 1903 — 1903
Steam trams leaving Christchurch for the suburb of Sumner
Auckland Weekly News

Papanui tram terminus, Christchurch, 1905 — 1905
Papanui tram terminus, Christchurch
Muir & Moodie; Unknown

CHRISTCHURCH MUNICIPAL ELECTRIC TRAM SYSTEM: COLOMBO-STREET, SHOWING THE OVERHEAD WIRES, POST, AND TROLLEY, 1905 — 1905
CHRISTCHURCH MUNICIPAL ELECTRIC TRAM SYSTEM: COLOMBO-STREET, SHOWING THE OVERHEAD WIRES, POST, AND TROLLEY
Auckland Weekly News; J. Hinge

To Sumner beach, Christchurch, by steam tramway. twenty trams dragged by a single motor, 1906 — 1906
To Sumner beach, Christchurch, by steam tramway. twenty trams dragged by a single motor
New Zealand Graphic; Wheeler

Negative:Tram in Cashmere Hills, 1909 — 1909
Negative:Tram in Cashmere Hills

Photograph: Christchurch Tram, 1910 — 1910
Photograph: Christchurch Tram

The Christchurch Municipal Tramways depot in Falsgrave Street, 1912 — 1912
The Christchurch Municipal Tramways depot in Falsgrave Street
New Zealand Graphic; Nash

Tram at terminus of old Dallington Bridge, 1913 — 1913
Tram at terminus of old Dallington Bridge

Tram snowed up: difficulties of transport in Christchurch, South Island of New Zealand, during the recent snowstorm, 1918 — 1918
Tram snowed up: difficulties of transport in Christchurch, South Island of New Zealand, during the recent snowstorm
Auckland Weekly News; Hill, H G

The college and the parks

13 prints

The gothic quadrangle the city built its university around, and the green belt it grew beside: the 1906 Exhibition pavilion on Hagley, autumn postcards, Ilam's lawns, snow through the Botanic Gardens.

Worcester Street and clock tower, Canterbury College, 1927 — 1927
Worcester Street and clock tower, Canterbury College
Central City

New Zealand International Exhibition pavilion, Hagley Park, Christchurch, 1906 — 1906
New Zealand International Exhibition pavilion, Hagley Park, Christchurch

Ilam House, Riccarton, 1896 — 1896
Ilam House, Riccarton
Ilam

Rolleston Avenue and Canterbury College in snow, 1900 — 1900
Rolleston Avenue and Canterbury College in snow
Samuel Anstey · Central City

Christ's College, Christchurch, As Seen From The Air, 1928 — 1928
Christ's College, Christchurch, As Seen From The Air
Auckland Weekly News; Green and Hahn

Canterbury Museum, 1930 — 1930
Canterbury Museum
Roland Searle

Autumn in Hagley Park, Christchurch, 1910 — 1910
Autumn in Hagley Park, Christchurch
Radcliffe, Frederick George, 1863-1923

In Hagley Park, Christchurch, 1910 — 1910
In Hagley Park, Christchurch
Radcliffe, Frederick George, 1863-1923 · Hagley Park

Quadrangle, Canterbury College, 1927 — 1927
Quadrangle, Canterbury College
Central City

Physics building and quadrangle, Canterbury College, 1927 — 1927
Physics building and quadrangle, Canterbury College
Central City

Botany entrance, Canterbury College, 1927 — 1927
Botany entrance, Canterbury College
Central City

Snow falling in the Botanic Gardens, 2005 — 2005
Snow falling in the Botanic Gardens
Central City

Christ’s College buildings viewed from the Botanic Gardens, 2005 — 2005
Christ’s College buildings viewed from the Botanic Gardens
Central City

The port and the sea

15 prints

Over the hill: Holy Trinity on its ridge in 1850, Lyttelton's working harbour, the wharves on a busy day, the bays the tram reached at weekends, the holiday baches of Taylors Mistake.

Lyttelton, The Harbour, 1896 — 1896
Lyttelton, The Harbour
Lyttelton

Holy Trinity Church, Lyttelton, 1850 — 1850
Holy Trinity Church, Lyttelton

Shag Rock and Cave Rock, Sumner, 1878 — 1878
Shag Rock and Cave Rock, Sumner

Graving dock, Lyttelton, 1885 — 1885
Graving dock, Lyttelton
Lyttelton

Lyttelton, 1900 — 1900
Lyttelton
Lyttelton

Sumner Road, Christchurch, 1902 — 1902
Sumner Road, Christchurch

A BUSY DAY AT LYTTELTON WHARVES. SCENES AT LYTTELTON, THE PORT OF CHRISTCHURCH, CANTERBURY, N.Z., 1904 — 1904
A BUSY DAY AT LYTTELTON WHARVES. SCENES AT LYTTELTON, THE PORT OF CHRISTCHURCH, CANTERBURY, N.Z.
Auckland Weekly News; Winkelmann, Henry, 1860-1931

At Corsair Bay 1919, 1919 — 1919
At Corsair Bay 1919
Lyttelton

Bellevue bach, Taylors Mistake, 1920 — 1920
Bellevue bach, Taylors Mistake
Taylors Mistake

Magazine Bay, 1925 — 1925
Magazine Bay
Lyttelton

Sumner Clock Tower at Scarborough Park, 1930 — 1930
Sumner Clock Tower at Scarborough Park
Sumner

St Faith's Church, New Brighton, 1910 — 1910
St Faith's Church, New Brighton
New Brighton

London Street in Lyttelton, 2005 — 2005
London Street in Lyttelton
Lyttelton

The shops of London Street, Lyttelton, 2005 — 2005
The shops of London Street, Lyttelton
Lyttelton

From above

10 prints

The city from the air, 1920 to 1947: the first aerial views of the grid, the 1926 survey flights that stitched the port and the bays into photomosaics, and V.C. Browne's cameras looking down the river.

Aerial photomosaic of Lyttelton, 1926 — 1926
Aerial photomosaic of Lyttelton
Lyttelton

Christchurch from the Air, 1920 — 1920
Christchurch from the Air

Capital of Canterbury, South Island, from the air: looking north along Colombo Street, Christchurch, 1924 — 1924
Capital of Canterbury, South Island, from the air: looking north along Colombo Street, Christchurch
Auckland Weekly News; Green, Herbert Huxley, 1893-1956

Aerial photomosaic of Dyers Pass Road and Bowenvale Avenue, 1926 — 1926
Aerial photomosaic of Dyers Pass Road and Bowenvale Avenue
Cashmere

Aerial photomosaic of McCormacks Bay, 1926 — 1926
Aerial photomosaic of McCormacks Bay
Moncks Spur

Aerial photomosaic of Southshore Spit and Moncks Bay, 1926 — 1926
Aerial photomosaic of Southshore Spit and Moncks Bay
Clifton

Aerial photomosaic of Godley Head, 1926 — 1926
Aerial photomosaic of Godley Head

Aerial photomosaic of Redcliffs and McCormacks Bay, 1926 — 1926
Aerial photomosaic of Redcliffs and McCormacks Bay
Moncks Spur

Aerial view of Manchester Street, Armagh Street and Oxford Terrace, 1929 — 1929
Aerial view of Manchester Street, Armagh Street and Oxford Terrace

The city as artists saw it

14 prints

The city through slower eyes: Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki's Christchurch shelf: a harbour panorama painted from the Sumner Road in 1874, the Wheeler brothers' 1880 souvenir album, Burton's 1893 streets, and the pictorialist Avon of Chance and Fitzgerald.

Lyttleton harbour Christchurch. Jan 1874 from the hills above Sumner Road, 1874 — 1874
Lyttleton harbour Christchurch. Jan 1874 from the hills above Sumner Road
John Kinder

Cathedral Square, Christchurch, 1880 — 1880
Cathedral Square, Christchurch
Unknown artist

Christchurch city scene - buildings, tram, 1880 — 1880
Christchurch city scene - buildings, tram
Wheeler and Son

Colombo St, Christchurch, 1880 — 1880
Colombo St, Christchurch
Wheeler and Son

Normal School, Christchurch, 1880 — 1880
Normal School, Christchurch
Wheeler and Son

In Domain, Christchurch, 1880 — 1880
In Domain, Christchurch
Wheeler and Son

On the Avon Christchurch, 1880 — 1880
On the Avon Christchurch
Wheeler and Son

Canterbury rowing club, 1880 — 1880
Canterbury rowing club
Wheeler and Son

High Street, Christchurch, 1893 — 1893
High Street, Christchurch
Alfred Burton

Victoria Street Bridge and Supreme Court, Christchurch, 1893 — 1893
Victoria Street Bridge and Supreme Court, Christchurch
Alfred Burton

Christchurch from Cathedral Tower, 1893 — 1893
Christchurch from Cathedral Tower
Alfred Burton

Christ's College, Christchurch, 1922 — 1922
Christ's College, Christchurch
George Chance

River Avon, Christchurch, 1932 — 1932
River Avon, Christchurch
James Fitzgerald

Spring Morning, The Avon, Christchurch, 1935 — 1935
Spring Morning, The Avon, Christchurch
George Chance

Copies are hosted here under each record’s stated rights: mostly “no known copyright” via Canterbury Stories, Christchurch City Libraries. The newest photographs the city sends itself live on the sent-in wall.