Hammond and Wheatley Commercial Emporium

The Hammond and Wheatley Commercial Emporium occupies 69-75 Hyde Street as a two-story structure built with cement bricks and steel beams. Its ground floor contains three separate retail spaces connected by internal passages, while the upper level houses a small museum displaying local artifacts.

Construction took place between 1908 and 1909 under the design of architect George Edward Moore, marking one of Australia's earliest applications of cement brick construction at scale. This development brought forward-thinking building methods to the region during the early industrial era.

The building still functions as a retail hub where visitors find clothing, homewares, and goods made by local producers. It has kept its original role as a shopping destination and remains a gathering point for the Bellingen community.

The site sits on Hyde Street in central Bellingen and is easy to locate with clear signage from the street. Both the retail areas and the upstairs museum are straightforward to explore, allowing visitors to move between levels and rooms without difficulty.

The construction employed an American-imported machine for mass-producing concrete blocks, a technology that would soon be replicated in projects across the country. This machinery represented a noteworthy innovation at the time and showed how quickly Bellingen adopted international building advances.

Location: Bellingen

GPS coordinates: -30.45182,152.89618

Latest update: December 14, 2025 14:41