by David F. Radcliffe
Johnston Street runs from Graham Street to Beaconsfield Parade, one block back from Pickles Street. It was gazetted in 1865 along with many other streets on the eastern side of Sandridge Lagoon: Rouse Street East, Graham Street East, Liardet Street East, Esplanade East and Pickles Street. This was before any bridges crossed this dominant water feature.…
by David F Radcliffe
When researching the story of the entrepreneurial Otto Schumacher, one question proved very difficult to answer. When did the small factory he built on Esplanade East in 1890 turn into the impressive building that defined the corner of Graham Street and Esplanade East from the 1920s? With its distinctive red brick and white stucco façades and flanked…
by David F Radcliffe
What many remember as the Knox-Schlapp factory on the corner of Graham Street and Esplanade East in the shadow of the former gasometer was originally the Schumacher Mill Furnishing Works. The entrepreneurial Otto Schumacher erected this facility in stages over three decades. Its facades provided a billboard proudly promoting the many products made there and engineering…