North Parade, Port Adelaide.

North Parade Wharf extends beyond Queens Wharf west of the present Birkenhead Bridge. North Parade was the Port's main shopping area until the late 19th century. By this period in Port Adelaide steamships were the norm except for some remaining ketches servicing the smaller South Australian outports. Several can be seen in the foreground loading timber.

The far side of the river was still at this time occupied by ship repair and boat building yards. Fletcher's Slip would, following his death, be taken over by the Harbors Board and later by the Adelaide Steamship Company. On the skyline in the distance can be seen the Semaphore water tower.

The state government through its Harbors Board had resumed control of the port's wharfage in 1917. Following World War I a rebuilding programme would begin. The period immediately following the war was also one of boom for the port and the amount of cargo handled averaged 2.5 million tons, peaking at 4.2 million.

Parsons, Ronald, Southern passages: a maritime history of South Australia Netley, S. Aust.: Wakefield Press, 1986

Mudflats to metropolis: Port Adelaide 1836-1986 [Port Adelaide, S. Aust.: B. & T. Publishers, 1986]

Couper-Smartt, John Port Adelaide: tales from a "commodious harbour" Port Adelaide: Friends of the South Australian Maritime Museum, 2003

State Library of South Australia: Mortlock Wing exhibitions. Wooden Walls and Iron Sides August 2004-