Enjoying Street Art
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| A small piece of one street art painting at Smithfield Image:Marie Vonow |
Smithfield (South Australia)
At the Smithfield railway interchange, a ten minute train ride from 'my' station, there is bright street art depicting the local history. I didn't know anything about Smithfield's history until the street art motivated me to do a bit of online research.
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| Anne and John Smith Image:Marie Vonow |
I guessed Anne and John Smith were early settlers and that Smithfield was named after them. I was correct but there is so much more to the story.
The Smiths were Scottish migrants and among the first settlers to this area. The settlement was originally called Smith's Creek after the Smiths who bought a large amount of land in the area.
John Smith, a wheat farmer, could see the potential for growth of Smith's Creek. He built his homestead on the Great North Road (now called Main North Road) and used part of it as the first inn for the area. It attracted many tired horsemen on their journey from Adelaide to the towns further north.
John Smith was very important in the development of the area. He drew up a plan for the township and marked in places for a school, shops and a new inn. Smith donated land for the building of a Presbyterian church and soon the area had a general store, granary, cattle yards, railway station, telegraph office, post office, coach building business, undertaker, blacksmith and a town institute.
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| Street art at Smithfield Image:Marie Vonow |
I noticed an elephant featured in several places in the street art. It seemed out of place, surrounded by images of native flora and fauna, the Smiths and other local identities. So what if the artist's favourite animal is the elephant, it didn't 'fit'. I got curious and googled.
That is no random elephant, his name is Tommy. Tommy was brought out from Calcutta in 1855 by John Smith to help on his farm. Now, Tommy could do the work of pulling a plough but he was just too slow. Horses were better for the job after all.
Tommy was sold and in1857 was contracted to help with the building of the railway line between Salisbury and Smithfield. His strength was utilised for hauling railway sleepers and metal tracks and doing other heavy work.
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| Max Fatchen is featured in the artwork Image:Marie Vonow |
Max Fatchen, a South Australian author, lived in Smithfield for over 50 years. He spent his childhood at Angle Vale, not far from Smithfield. Max joined the RAAF in World War 2, was a journalist with the Adelaide News and the Advertiser and also had 20 books published.
What the significance of the magic number 5114?
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| 5114 Image:Marie Vonow |
And the mysterious number 5114 which appears in several places in the street art? Smithfield's postcode, an important part of the address on the envelopes of snail mail.
Plenty of other details
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| There is plenty of detail with local relevance in the paintings Image:M Vonow |
Magpies, brightly coloured parrots and various types of butterflies are found in the area. There's that elephant again!
Sheep, hay and wheat were important on local farms from the 1850s when European settlers came to the area through until the 1970s. Since then an increasing number of houses have been built, replacing the farms. Kangaroos were once plentiful in the area but not for some decades now.
Buses as well as trains provide public transport to various locations. There is plenty to look at in these paintings.
Yes, I enjoy street art and sometimes, as in this case, it makes me ask questions, encouraging me to do some research and learn new things. I think it's good for the community where the street art has been done and it may encourage the locals to find out about the history of their area.
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