Believed to have been taken sometime between 1858 and 1908, featuring a man with moustache, dressed in hat and long riding coat, seated on a bob-tailed horse, is stopped in the middle of a wide dirt road in Beechworth. He is outside a row of businesses, including R.McKenzie & Sons Grain Store and Mackenzie Family Store (Wholesale & Retail Est. 1855), along a sloping hill. Behind the main rider are a parked horse and laden two-wheeled cart backed up directly outside the grain store's verandah, and another man is driving a horse and four-wheeled wagon forward towards them. At the bottom of the hill is a bridge (Newtown Bridge) with forked road on the far side, leading to a number of houses on both sides of another hill. This image is looking down Bridge Street, Newtown, Beechworth and across to Ford Street (left) and High Street (right). Road-making was a focus of town development during the 1850s, and the wide streets were created on the instructions of the surveyor-general to be between sixty-six and ninety-nine feet wide to give the town a pleasing aspect.This photograph is important in showing the development and expansion of the various businesses and buildings in Bridge Street of Newtown, Beechworth. Black and white rectangular photograph printed on paperReverse: 6980/ PH 118/ 1998.00059/beechworth, new town, newtown, newtown beechworth, local business, mackenzie family store, mackenzie's family store, mackenzie, grain store, bridge, ford steet, high street, colonial australia, australian gold rushes, mining technology, beechworth historic district, indigo gold trail, migration, indigo shire, mckenzie and sons grainstore, mckenzie family store, mckenzie, newtown bridge

Taken in 1910, this photograph depicts a scene of Bridge road in Newtown, Beechworth. Walking on the road are two men on horseback, one of which is pulling a carriage with a small dog standing beside it. Behind them are a line of small buildings and shops. Small industries began to expand dramatically in Beechworth, particularly during the 1860s, leading to a strengthening of the towns economy. As early as 1853, areas surrounding the waterway known as Spring Creek were surveyed with the intent of mapping out plans for new roads and building allotments. Land was sold and new buildings were erected, creating an expansion of the Beechworth township and retail services. One building shown in this photograph is Straughair and Duncan's Beechworth Foundry. This business was established in 1858 through the partnership of Mark Straughair and John Duncan. It dealt mostly in the manufacturing of castings and mining machinery, receiving orders from all over the Ovens district. The Business eventually collapsed after the deaths of Straughair in 1882 and Duncan in 1896 but was reopened by W.H. Phillips in 1905. The two other buildings are both associated with the name McKenzie. Evidence suggests that the McKenzie family has a long association with the town of Beechworth. This photograph is historically significant as it provides insight into the nineteenth and twentieth century industrial expansions that happened in the area of Newtown, leading to the urbanisation of Beechworth. Black and white rectangular photograph printed on matte photographic paper mounted on card.Reverse: Newton / 1997.2648 / 33 Newton Beechworth / 84-219-1 / McKenzies / BMM3055 / newtown beechworth, bridge road, 1910, j. duncan, r. mckenzie, m. straughair, industrial growth, ford street, beechworth foundry, straughair and duncan, mckenzie and sons grainstore, mckenzie family store