# The beautiful city: Christchurch in old photographs

113 prints in 8 rooms, hung from the 14,982 rights-cleared photographs in [the directory](https://www.chch.live/then). Every picture opens its source record at the collection that keeps it.

- [Christchurch, 1923 (1923)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/archives/ccl-cs-74116) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=51789685

## I. The Square

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)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/community/obeirne/ccl-cs-117818) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=62661212
- [Cathedral Square, Christchurch (1867)](https://hocken.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/58731) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=52913467
- [Looking south from Cathedral Square (1885)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/star/prints/pre1900/ccl-cs-4145) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=53788672
- [Christchurch from the Cathedral Tower (1885)](https://hocken.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/59236) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=52914979
- [Chief Post Office, Cathedral Square (1881)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/publications/ccl-cs-43599/ccl-cs-43606) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=47925837
- [Captain Cook Statue and Bowker Fountain, Christchurch (1930)](https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/98778) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=46067747
- [Citizens' War Memorial in Cathedral Square (1930)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/archives/william-trethewey-papers/citizens-war-memorial/ccl-cs-96235), Central City · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=55292794
- [Cathedral Square, Christchurch, 1919 (1919)](https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/398813) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=61777810
- [Cathedral Square, Christchurch. (1920)](https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/1068459) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=46195755
- [Looking down on the Square (1920)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/photohunt/2019/ccl-cs-6335) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=56335491
- [Christchurch Cathedral, Cathedral Square (1960)](https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/415953) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=36474002
- [ChristChurch Cathedral at night (2004)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/community/obeirne/ccl-cs-16139), Central City · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=58046836
- [Cathedral Square in the snow (2005)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/community/obeirne/ccl-cs-117881), Central City · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=62661401
- [Christchurch Cathedral (2012)](http://www.flickr.com/photos/17211040@N00/7554788718/in/pool-eqnzchc2010/), Central City · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=33693333

## II. The river

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)](https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/276365) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=30057098
- [Avon River, Christchurch, 1852 (1850)](https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/402480) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=30078051
- [Worcester Street Bridge, Christchurch, 1860 (1860)](https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/398872) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=61777066
- [Museum and Avon, Christchurch. From the album: Scenery (1870)](https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/1920687) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=62180826
- [Bridge over the Avon, Christchurch (1875)](https://hocken.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/58470) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=52912909
- [The Avon, Christchurch (1879)](https://hocken.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/74465) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=63180737
- [Antigua Boatsheds (1890)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/star/prints/pre1900/ccl-cs-4154), Central City · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=53788724
- [Avon River and Worcester Street bridge (1900)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/archives/drayton-album/ccl-cs-55842), Central City · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=48502594
- [Avon River, Christchurch, 1906 (1900)](https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/409079) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=30028694
- [The Boat Sheds on the Avon, Christchurch (1906)](https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/320093) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=40735310
- [Snow beside the Avon River (1918)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/archives/glass-plates/ccl-cs-80499), Central City · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=55924615
- [Avon River and Canterbury Rowing Club (1919)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/archives/glass-plates/ccl-cs-80508), Central City · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=55924642
- [Bridge of Remembrance, Christchurch (1920)](https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/1068464) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=46195913
- [Avon River/Ōtākaro in the Millbrook Reserve (1928)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/archives/1028/ccl-cs-87945), Merivale · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=52520812
- [Looking down Otakaro-Avon River to Edmonds Band... (PB1901/12) (1939)](http://vcbrowne.com/Detailprom.aspx?RID=PB1901&PID=12) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=31859127
- [Edmonds Jubilee Band Rotunda, Christchurch, NZ (1930)](https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/98814) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=46067819
- [Edmonds Band Rotunda on the River Avon, Christchurch (1980)](https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/308374) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=30103252
- [Edmonds Band Rotunda on the Avon River (2004)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/community/obeirne/ccl-cs-16135), Central City · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=58046824

## III. The streets

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)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/archives/med/med-historical-photographs/ccl-cs-37033) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=46147235
- [Photograph: Hereford Street, Christchurch (1871)](https://collection.canterburymuseum.com/objects/767743) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=37804014
- [High Street, Christchurch, 1872 (1872)](https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/398816) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=61777852
- [Colombo Street looking south (1874)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/star/prints/pre1900/ccl-cs-4138) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=53788666
- [High Street, Christchurch, New Zealand (1875)](https://hocken.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/58469) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=52912906
- [Colombo Street, Christchurch, looking South (1882)](https://hocken.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/58453) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=52912858
- [Market Square (1880)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/photohunt/2013/ccl-cs-14546), Central City · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=46098099
- [Oxford Terrace, Christchurch, N. Z. (1900)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/photohunt/2014/ccl-cs-28530), Central City · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=46131449
- [Armagh Street, Christchurch, 1919 (1919)](https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/398890) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=61777168
- [Manchester Street Bridge, Christchurch (1910)](https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/276328) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=30057034
- [Shops along Colombo Street, towards Cathedral Square (2004)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/community/obeirne/ccl-cs-16104), Central City · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=58046731
- [Government Buildings, Worcester Street (2004)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/community/obeirne/ccl-cs-16094), Central City · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=58046701
- [Buildings along Tuam Street (2004)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/community/obeirne/ccl-cs-16072), Central City · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=58046635

## IV. The moving city

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)](https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/180186) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=29962701
- [Photograph: First Christchurch Railway Station (1863)](https://collection.canterburymuseum.com/objects/1148266) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=62865098
- [Stagecoach (1875)](https://hocken.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/57916) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=52911247
- [Alfred Ernest Preece and wife Elizabeth Lindsay Preece on a tandem bicycle (1890)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/archives/archive6/series7/ccl-cs-35759) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=48496206
- [Addington Railway Workshops, Christchurch (1898)](https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/129334) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=29844783
- [Tram (1900)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/archives/archive789/ccl-cs-36832) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=48496699
- [Steam trams leaving Christchurch for the suburb of Sumner (1903)](https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/178231) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=43298631
- [Papanui tram terminus, Christchurch (1905)](https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/22775) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=172989
- [CHRISTCHURCH MUNICIPAL ELECTRIC TRAM SYSTEM: COLOMBO-STREET, SHOWING THE OVERHEAD WIRES, POST, AND TROLLEY (1905)](https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/181259) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=29961632
- [To Sumner beach, Christchurch, by steam tramway. twenty trams dragged by a single motor (1906)](https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/142791) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=43333281
- [Negative:Tram in Cashmere Hills (1909)](https://collection.canterburymuseum.com/objects/456782) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=53856571
- [Photograph: Christchurch Tram (1910)](https://collection.canterburymuseum.com/objects/1141951) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=62863883
- [The Christchurch Municipal Tramways depot in Falsgrave Street (1912)](https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/150957) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=43358885
- [Tram at terminus of old Dallington Bridge (1913)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/photohunt/2013/ccl-cs-14717) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=46098433
- [Tram snowed up: difficulties of transport in Christchurch, South Island of New Zealand, during the recent snowstorm (1918)](https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/232549) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=43257881

## V. The college and the parks

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)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/archives/hughbrown/ccl-cs-44332/ccl-cs-44257) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=55412788
- [New Zealand International Exhibition pavilion, Hagley Park, Christchurch (1906)](https://hocken.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/62759) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=52922926
- [Ilam House, Riccarton (1896)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/publications/imperialalbum/ccl-cs-39357), Ilam · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=52172972
- [Rolleston Avenue and Canterbury College in snow (1900)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/archives/archive892/ccl-cs-10663), Central City · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=46091563
- [Christ's College, Christchurch, As Seen From The Air (1928)](https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/254346) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=38503198
- [Canterbury Museum (1930)](https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/438371) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=20374532
- [Autumn in Hagley Park, Christchurch (1910)](https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/276357) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=30057093
- [In Hagley Park, Christchurch (1910)](https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/276369), Hagley Park · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=30057106
- [Quadrangle, Canterbury College (1927)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/archives/hughbrown/ccl-cs-44332/ccl-cs-44252), Central City · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=55922380
- [Physics building and quadrangle, Canterbury College (1927)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/archives/hughbrown/ccl-cs-44332/ccl-cs-44250), Central City · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=55922374
- [Botany entrance, Canterbury College (1927)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/archives/hughbrown/ccl-cs-44332/ccl-cs-44255), Central City · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=55922389
- [Snow falling in the Botanic Gardens (2005)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/community/obeirne/ccl-cs-117886), Central City · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=62661416
- [Christ’s College buildings viewed from the Botanic Gardens (2005)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/community/obeirne/ccl-cs-118167), Central City · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=62856656

## VI. The port and the sea

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)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/publications/imperialalbum/ccl-cs-39388) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=52173061
- [Holy Trinity Church, Lyttelton (1850)](https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/411071) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=30027404
- [Lyttelton (1870)](https://hocken.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/62623) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=52922513
- [Shag Rock and Cave Rock, Sumner (1878)](https://hocken.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/58112) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=52911838
- [Graving dock, Lyttelton (1885)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/photohunt/2010/ccl-cs-66593), Lyttelton · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=63129572
- [Lyttelton (1900)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/photohunt/2019/ccl-cs-6367), Lyttelton · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=56335583
- [Sumner Road, Christchurch (1902)](https://hocken.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/54851) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=52902214
- [A BUSY DAY AT LYTTELTON WHARVES. SCENES AT LYTTELTON, THE PORT OF CHRISTCHURCH, CANTERBURY, N.Z. (1904)](https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/175639) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=43305957
- [At Corsair Bay 1919 (1919)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/photohunt/2014/ccl-cs-7803), Lyttelton · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=46078031
- [Bellevue bach, Taylors Mistake (1920)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/archives/ccl-cs-107284), Taylors Mistake · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=59069337
- [Magazine Bay (1925)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/photohunt/2013/ccl-cs-14561), Lyttelton · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=51748210
- [Sumner Clock Tower at Scarborough Park (1930)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/archives/gimblett/ccl-cs-14266), Sumner · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=46097595
- [St Faith's Church, New Brighton (1910)](https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/411020), New Brighton · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=30063843
- [London Street in Lyttelton (2005)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/community/obeirne/ccl-cs-118149), Lyttelton · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=62856602
- [The shops of London Street, Lyttelton (2005)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/community/obeirne/ccl-cs-118150), Lyttelton · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=62856605

## VII. From above

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)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/maps-plans/aerial-photomosaics/1926/ccl-cs-47113) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=53791495
- [Christchurch from the Air (1920)](https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/519057) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=30555987
- [Capital of Canterbury, South Island, from the air: looking north along Colombo Street, Christchurch (1924)](https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/246473) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=38489128
- [Aerial photomosaic of Dyers Pass Road and Bowenvale Avenue (1926)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/maps-plans/aerial-photomosaics/1926/ccl-cs-47094), Cashmere · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=53791435
- [Aerial photomosaic of McCormacks Bay (1926)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/maps-plans/aerial-photomosaics/1926/ccl-cs-47085), Moncks Spur · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=53791402
- [Aerial photomosaic of Southshore Spit and Moncks Bay (1926)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/maps-plans/aerial-photomosaics/1926/ccl-cs-47089), Clifton, Moncks Spur · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=53791417
- [Aerial photomosaic of Godley Head (1926)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/maps-plans/aerial-photomosaics/1926/ccl-cs-47104) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=53791466
- [Aerial photomosaic of Godley Head (1926)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/maps-plans/aerial-photomosaics/1926/ccl-cs-47105) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=53791470
- [Aerial photomosaic of Redcliffs and McCormacks Bay (1926)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/maps-plans/aerial-photomosaics/1926/ccl-cs-47084), Moncks Spur · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=53791408
- [Aerial view of Manchester Street, Armagh Street and Oxford Terrace (1929)](https://www.canterburystories.nz/collections/archives/med/med-historical-photographs/ccl-cs-16022) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=46100695

## VIII. The city as artists saw it

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)](https://www.aucklandartgallery.com/explore-art-and-ideas/artwork/13043/lyttleton-harbour-christchurch-jan-1874-from-the-hills-above-sumner-road) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=1842909
- [Cathedral Square, Christchurch (1880)](https://www.aucklandartgallery.com/explore-art-and-ideas/artwork/4390/cathedral-square-christchurch) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=1848198
- [Christchurch city scene - buildings, tram (1880)](https://www.aucklandartgallery.com/explore-art-and-ideas/artwork/15800/christchurch-city-scene-buildings-tram) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=1844719
- [Colombo St, Christchurch (1880)](https://www.aucklandartgallery.com/explore-art-and-ideas/artwork/15797/colombo-st-christchurch) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=1844714
- [Normal School, Christchurch (1880)](https://www.aucklandartgallery.com/explore-art-and-ideas/artwork/15801/normal-school-christchurch) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=1844720
- [In Domain, Christchurch (1880)](https://www.aucklandartgallery.com/explore-art-and-ideas/artwork/15805/in-domain-christchurch) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=1844724
- [On the Avon Christchurch (1880)](https://www.aucklandartgallery.com/explore-art-and-ideas/artwork/15802/on-the-avon-christchurch) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=1844721
- [Canterbury rowing club (1880)](https://www.aucklandartgallery.com/explore-art-and-ideas/artwork/15798/canterbury-rowing-club) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=1844715
- [High Street, Christchurch (1893)](https://www.aucklandartgallery.com/explore-art-and-ideas/artwork/12100/high-street-christchurch) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=1841997
- [Victoria Street Bridge and Supreme Court, Christchurch (1893)](https://www.aucklandartgallery.com/explore-art-and-ideas/artwork/12123/victoria-street-bridge-and-supreme-court-christchurch) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=1842022
- [Christchurch from Cathedral Tower (1893)](https://www.aucklandartgallery.com/explore-art-and-ideas/artwork/12103/christchurch-from-cathedral-tower) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=1842000
- [Christ's College, Christchurch (1922)](https://www.aucklandartgallery.com/explore-art-and-ideas/artwork/6738/christ-s-college-christchurch) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=1850778
- [River Avon, Christchurch (1932)](https://www.aucklandartgallery.com/explore-art-and-ideas/artwork/1480/river-avon-christchurch) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=1843934
- [Spring Morning, The Avon, Christchurch (1935)](https://www.aucklandartgallery.com/explore-art-and-ideas/artwork/6739/spring-morning-the-avon-christchurch) · https://api.chch.live/quiz/img?id=1850779