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View of old stone cottage, Mosman Bay, Sydney
View of old stone cottage, Mosman Bay, Sydney

View of old stone cottage, Mosman Bay, Sydney

Photographer (Australian, 1877 - 1951)
Datec 1890
Object number00002522
NameGlass plate negative
MediumEmulsion on glass
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Bruce Stannard
DescriptionView of old stone cottage, Mosman Bay, Sydney. The stone building in the foreground, known as "Old stone cottage", was a former hotel, then became known as 'Lewis's Refreshment Rooms'. HistoryIn 1831, Archibald Mosman obtained a land grant for the area surrounding the bay and founded a whaling station within Mosman Bay. From the 1840s, whaling declined in the bay and for the next 10 years, it was used for overhauling ships. In 1860, the first official road was constructed running from the Bay to Mosman Junction. One of the main attractions of the area was the Mosman waterfall as the head of Mosman Bay. A regular ferry service helped promote a flow of day-trippers to the bay, who could enjoy the comforts of the refreshments room or hire a rowing boat. A nearby artists camp that was frequented by the likes of Tom Roberts and Arthur Streeton, often visited the bay to paint. Roberts depicts the stone cottage and bay in his 1894 painting 'Mosman Bay'. Significance'Mosman's Bay Refreshment Rooms' greeted daytrippers alighting from the ferry at Mosman, then a relatively remote but popular picnic spot on the harbour's north shore.