In 2025, our Branch member Graham Crack donated an archive of historical photographs to the Local History Centre at the Mount Barker Library.  The collection consists of 630 photographs, mostly from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.  Graham’s collection has been digitised and annotated by Local History Centre director Sheila Jones.  The collection is available online.

Graham Crack has lived most of his life in the Mount Barker area.  As a young man, he started taking photographs, documenting the physical and built environment of the town.  Graham had a unique talent for capturing the “ordinary” fleeting visions that so often escape the notice of recordists.  He has created an invaluable visual record of buildings, streetscapes, rural life, commerce and machinery that would otherwise have been lost without trace. He has also meticulously recorded the rolling stock and rail infrastructure that were once such an important element of life in the Hills.  Although the photographs are relatively recent in historical terms, to browse the collection is to visit a different world.

While the collection will be of particular interest to residents of the Mount Barker, Littlehampton and Wistow areas in the Adelaide Hills, Graham’s collection is of broader significance as a time capsule of the Australian way of life in a rural town in the twentieth century.  Our Branch is proud to be associated with Graham’s generous donation, and we are grateful to the Local History Centre for making it available for universal access.

Accessing the Graham Crack Collection

1. Click on this link to take you to the Local History Centre data base: https://localhistory.mountbarker.sa.gov.au.
2. Hover over “Search” and select “Photographs” from the drop-down menu.
   
3. You will be taken to the box below. Type “Graham Crack Collection” into the Search box (don’t worry about the dates).  Click on the orange “Search” icon and you will be will taken to a list of Graham’s pictures.
4. Scroll down to browse. When you would like to view a photograph, click on the tiny icon to the left of the description:
5. This will take you to a field where you will see a ‘thumbnail’ of the photographic image. Click on the Call Number, and this will take you to the enlarged image.When you have closed the enlarged image you will be returned to the previous screen. Double-click on the orange “Close” icon to take you back to the listings so you can continue browsing.

   

   If you wish to make a more specific search, this can be done with the addition of key words and/or dates in step (3).

   Copyright Advice

   All images held by the Local History Centre are subject to copyright.  They may be used for private study or research, but may not be duplicated, modified or used for any other purpose without express written permission.  In the case of the Graham Crack Collection, Graham Crack is the copyright holder, as the creator of the images.  If you wish to use the photographs for purposes other than private study or research, please contact the Local History Officer (08 8393 6474), who will refer your query to Graham for his permission.  Please provide details of the photograph’s call number as part of your request.

   High quality copies of the photographs may be ordered from the Local History Centre, Mt Barker Community Library, 5 Dumas Street, Mt Barker SA5251.