A place for the stories.

Lost Canberra began as a Facebook community sharing pictures of how the region used to look. This website gives those photographs and stories a home that’s easier to explore by place.

Follow the source.

Each new story links to the records behind it. A family memory can add something a catalogue never captured; we distinguish those memories from documented facts. Where a date is uncertain, we keep the uncertainty visible.

Our existing Canberra timeline remains available. It brings together sources collected earlier in the project; corrections and better evidence are always welcome.

The photographs.

The photographs reproduced in this edition come from the Mildenhall collection, held by the National Archives of Australia and presented online with the Museum of Australian Democracy. Historical catalogue dates span 1921–1935. Rob Woodall’s rephotograph was taken on 25 April 2011. Zoe D’Arcy’s Queanbeyan image was uploaded on 10 October 2011; its capture date is not recorded. Both are credited beside each comparison. We have not invented narrower dates or generated historical scenes.

These images are reproduced under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia, in accordance with the archive’s reuse terms. Display copies are compressed for the web, and some previews crop the image to fit. The article pages show the full images.

• Braddon and Civic Centre from Mt Ainslie, Black Mountain at the rear. — National Archives of Australia, A3560, 6592.
• J B Youngs store at Kingston with motor vehicles — National Archives of Australia, A3560, 2713.
• Steamroller spraying tar in Mort Street, Canberra City. — National Archives of Australia, A3560, 3210.
• Intersection of Monaro and Crawford Streets, Queanbeyan. — National Archives of Australia, A3560, 2046.

Other photograph records are linked as research leads. They have not been reproduced here where permission or access still needs to be confirmed.

Looking back, from here.

The map brings together places, stories, dated photo comparisons and links to look around in Street View. Street View coverage and capture dates vary. The present-day view may not match the angle of the historic photograph.

Next, we would like visitors to stand at a documented viewpoint and line up a historic image over their phone’s camera. That needs careful work on the original viewpoints and testing on different phones. It is not available on the site yet.

Help fill in the gaps.

Send us a correction or memory, or join Lost Canberra on Facebook. Please include a source or approximate date when you can.