The New Wharf

Sullivans Cove was the original site for European settlement in Tasmania, chosen because it had good fresh water, a deep and sheltered harbour and gentle slopes suitable for settlement. In the earliest years, all cargo arriving into or departing Hobart did so at Old Wharf next to Hunter Island, a tiny rocky island out from the main shore. Men waded across the shallow channel and women were carried in sedan chairs by able seamen (the prettier the woman, the longer the crossing apparently). 

In 1820 a stone causeway was built to link the island to the main shore of Hobart, and port activities increased dramatically.  More than 65,000 convicts took their first steps into the penal colony at Old Wharf, jostling for room with whalers, seamen and merchants as they were marched in chains to their barracks in the town centre.

By the late 1820s the number of ships carrying whale products, import and export goods, immigrants and convicts in and out of port soon proved too much for the Old Wharf. The southern end of Sullivans Cove possessed deeper anchorage and better shelter, and in 1830 the Government agreed to build New Wharf where Salamanca Place now exists. New Wharf soon became one of the great whaling ports of the world and as Tasmania’s export trades increased, the need for dockside warehouses quickly grew.

Housed in hulks moored at New Wharf, hundreds of convicts were used to quarry out the cliffs behind Salamanca Place. Convicts were used to cut the stone and build the row of sandstone warehouses that lined New Wharf and now house the Salamanca Arts Centre.

Acknowledgment:  Dr. David Young, ‘The Peacock Warehouses; a building-by-building history’, 2000.

Discover Us – Self Guided Tour

The seven sandstone warehouses that are home to the Salamanca Arts Centre have a rich and fascinating history. On Site Insight is a self-guided tour and pocket history of our buildings and their role in Hobart’s history. Download a copy here.

Photo by Greg Hind
Hindsight Photographics