Anne Pope believes it is sad the history of Port Macquarie isn’t still on display for people to see as they stroll down the town’s main street.
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“However I think you must move with the time and that’s what people have done,” she said.
Ms Pope is a member of the Port Macquarie & Districts Family History Society who has been researching the history behind the main businesses in town with help from the Port Macquarie Library.
When businesses are eventually sold Ms Pope records the year the business began. She walks around all the shops in town to physically record any which have changed ownership.
She commenced her research by focusing on the streets of Horton and Clarence in the the late 1800s. Her research has now extended to include both Short and Murray Streets.
Ms Pope describes the businesses 100 years ago as vastly different to the ones which are present today.
“In the early years they put verandas on all the shops and then around the 1940s they were asked to be taken down,” she said.
“They didn’t want them as they thought they looked ugly.”
Ms Pope said if someone were to travel back in time they might recognise the streets but not the areas.
“The street you would know because it’s straight up and down but you wouldn’t be able to place what is then and what is now,” she said.
Ms Pope said it took a long while to establish the four corners of Horton and William Streets.
“There were pubs on two corners and it took me a while to work out where the Star (an old hotel) was,”
“I thought it was down the street further but it was actually located on the corner of Horton and William Streets.”
Ms Pope said back then William Street wasn’t established as a separate street and was just referred to as Horton.
Pubs and hotels made up the majority of businesses of Port Macquarie in the early days.
Ms Pope said there were a lot of businesses which succumbed to fire. People used kerosene lamps and wood fires inside the buildings.
“There was no fire brigade here so that made it hard,” she said.
Ms Pope said there was enough demand for the pubs and hotels up until about the 1840s when there was an economic downturn.
In the early days Port Macquarie was a fishing village rather than an established town.
“Port Macquarie never really came to the fore until after the war and then 1960s onwards,” Ms Pope said.
Port Macquarie Library reference services librarian Jeff Stonehouse said there have been a lot of people who have accessed Ms Pope’s research for their own purposes.
“We had a young couple who wanted to open up a bakery in town so they came in to research the history of bakeries in the area,” he said.
Ms Pope’s book is called The Shops of Port Macquarie: a list of shops in the CBD of Port Macquarie from 1830 to 1960.
If people have any old photos they would like to share with Ms Pope please contact the library on 6581 8755.