CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 NZ – Williams, Edgar Richard, 1891-1983: Negatives, lantern slides, stereographs, colour transparencies, monochrome prints, photographic ephemera. Ref: 1/1-025893-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.
In the centre of this 1880s photo, you can see Dick’s Hill (also known as Dick’s Ridge). Before the 1880s, the hill was referred to as Sulky Hill, and from the 1940s onwards, it became known as Hair Street Ridge, named after the adjacent Hair Street. The Main Road was originally cut through the lower part of this ridge, with further excavation carried out in 1978–1979 to lower the cutting by about a metre.
A tunnel called Dick’s Tunnel also goes through this hill. It was also known as the Black Creek Tunnel, is a 200-metre-long brick-lined structure built between 1881 and 1882. The tunnel was abandoned around 1911 following the construction of Morton Dam.
In the background of the photo you can see the homestead and land belonging to the Dick family.
