Our Lady Help of Christians site before the church was there

There's a fantastic pictorial record of Brunswick's first century in the Moreland Libraries collection and it's even available as a download through the Local History Catalogue. It's called 'Pictorial Brunswick 1839-1939' and was prepared during the Centenary year (ie 1939).

In all likelihood it was prepared by the Brunswick Historical Society, a group that had been established in 1937 to prepare for all the Centenary activity. In July 1938 (see Age, 29 July 1938), they'd had a large number of glass lantern slides printed and they put on an exhibition at the Town Hall. According to the newspaper, it showed 'old homesteads, the birth of Industry, the development of transport, and many interesting landmarks'. The Society donated their lantern slides to the Council and today the images have been digitised and made available through the Moreland Libraries catalogue. The Brunswick Historical Society disbanded in October 1959 and today we have the Brunswick Community History Group, which is interested in collecting memories, memorabilia and images from Brunswick's rich past.

And here is one image from 'Pictorial Brunswick' showing part of the suburb's rich industrial heritage. It's the stone quarry that was worked on the site of what is now Our Lady Help of Christians, in Nicholson Street, East Brunswick. The house in the background has been identified as Yeo House (which was in Barkly Street east and was the home of an early Mayor Thomas Stranger, councillor and quarryman).