History of Hobart

The modern history of the Australian city of Hobart (formerly 'Hobart Town', or 'Hobarton') in Tasmania dates to its foundation as a British colony in 1804. Prior to British settlement, the area had been occupied definitively for at least 8,000 years, and possibly for as long as 35,000 years, by the semi nomadic Mouheneener tribe, a sub group of the Nuenonne, or South East tribe. The descendants of theses indigenous Tasmanians now refer to themselves as 'Palawa'. Little is known about the region from prehistoric times. As with many other Australia cities, urbanisation has destroyed much of the archaeological evidence of indigenous occupation, although aboriginal middens are often still present in coastal areas. The first European settlement in the Hobart area began in 1803 as a penal colony and defensive outpost at Risdon Cove on the eastern shores of the Derwent River, amid British concerns over the presence of French explorers in the South Pacific. In 1804 it was moved to a better location at the present site of Hobart at Sullivans Cove, making it the second oldest city in Australia. Hobart's prominent Georgian architecture of this era served as a constant reminder of its past, which is linked to convicts. Gradually this it was transformed into a quiet, conservative, strongly class conscious society. Since that time, the city has grown from what was approximately one square mile around the mouth of Sullivans Cove to stretch in a generally north–south direction along both banks of the Derwent River, from 22 km inland from the estuary at Storm Bay to the point where the river reverts to fresh water at Bridgewater. The city sits on low lying hills at the eastern foot of Mount Wellington. From the foundation of the settlement, Hobart has remained the administrative centre of Tasmania, and from the time that Tasmania was granted responsible self government in 1856 it has been the capital city of Tasmania. In the later years of the 20th century, migrants increasingly arrived to settle in Hobart from Asia. Despite the rise in migration from parts of the world other than the United Kingdom and Ireland, the population of Hobart remains predominantly ethnically Anglo Celtic, and has the highest percentage per capita of Australian born residents of all the Australian capital cities. Hobart is a major deep water port for Southern Ocean shipping, and the last port of call for Australian Antarctic Division and French expeditions to Antarctica. Hobart is also a common port of call for naval vessels from many countries due to the deep harbour of the Derwent River. US Navy vessels often stop for shore leave when returning to the United States from the Middle East. Hobart is defined by its geographical position, history and heritage. Classical examples of Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian architecture abound throughout the city, alongside more recently built structures.

The etymology of the name of Hobart comes from the first Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land, David Collins, who named the new settlement in honour of the then Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, Robert Hobart, 4th Earl of Buckinghamshire, the Lord Hobart. It was originally referred to as 'Hobart Town', which was often shortened to 'Hobarton', but by 1842 it had grown large enough to officially be recognised as a city, and from 1 January 1881 the 'Town' was formally dropped from its name, leaving the modern name of simply 'Hobart'.

The city of Hobart is located in the south eastern part of the island of Tasmania, at 42°S, 147°E. It is approximately 22 kilometres from the mouth of the Derwent River at Storm Bay. Hobart is built around Sullivans Cove, a small bay formed where the Hobart Rivulet and the Derwent River join. The location was chosen as a location for a settlement due to the deep water harbour that allows easy access for shipping, the sheltered anchorage that Sullivans Cove provides, and the freshwater supply from Hobart Rivulet. The main part of the city runs along the western shore of the Derwent River in a north–south direction, but the eastern shore residential suburbs are also extensive. The eastern shore has many low hills and a small mountain ridge known as the Meehan Range. The western shore is partially flat at sea level but rises steeply away from the shore to the foothills. Deep gullies are situated between the hill ridges, most of which reach to around 500–800 m in height. Mount Wellington is the most prominent feature of the Wellington Range. The Derwent Valley stretches northwards and is flat farmland and rolling green hills that follows the winding course of the river.

The prehistory of the Hobart region is poorly understood. At the time of settlement by the British, it is estimated that approximately 1000 to 5000 people lived in Tasmania, divided into eight tribal groups. It was the semi nomadic Mouheneener tribe, a sub group of the Nuenonne, or 'South East' tribe, who were first affected by European settlement, as Hobart Town was founded in their traditional hunting grounds. The Nuenonne had no permanent settlements at Sullivans Cove, or anywhere else in Tasmania, living as nomadic hunter gatherers. Early Europeans described the Nuenonne as living in crude bark huts established around a fire at movable camping grounds as they travelled about their region. The French described them as a friendly peaceful people who lived a happy, simple life. The best description of them came from Captain James Cook RN, on his visit to the Derwent River in 1777. Cook described the Nuenonne as: Being of middling stature, slender and naked. On different parts of their bodies were ridges, both straight and curved, raised in the skin: the hair of the head and beard was smeared with red ointment. During the first visits to Tasmania by European explorers, the Nuenonne, normally in parties of about eight men, were often very welcoming, greeting explorers from the shore with friendly shouts and exchanging food and water for trinkets. At first they thought the Europeans were spirits who arrived on the backs of great birds, believing the European ship's sails looked like seagull wings. However, tension grew quickly amongst the Nuenonne as they realised the Europeans were intending to establish a permanent settlement. By the 1820s, the expansion of European settlements throughout the island, and massive growth in pastoralism came at the expense of the Aborigines, who began to resist the intruders. Clashes became more frequent, and tit for tat killings became common. Although exact numbers for the death toll were not recorded, estimates vary between 5–9,000. Towards the end of the 1820s the conflict had become so bad that martial law was declared, and the conflict soon grew into the Black War. Although the ship did not contact the indigenous Tasmanians at this time, the sighting of the Dutch ships may have led to the creation of myths about spirits riding on great seabirds amongst the Tasmanians. The next visit to the River Derwent was by the Frenchman Marion du Fresne who arrived in 1773 with the ships Mascarin and Castries. As French and British rivalries grew towards the end of the 18th century, both nations sent regular scientific missions to the region. The English explorers Tobias Furneaux, aboard in 1773, and James Cook, aboard in 1777, both described the shores of the Derwent as a suitable location for resupplying and watering their ships. One of Cook's Resolution crew in 1777, William Bligh, returned to the Derwent River for a second time in command of the on his fateful journey to Tahiti in 1788 that ended in mutiny by his crew. John Cox, aboard in 1789, closely followed Bligh. In the 1790s, the French and English continued to explore the area and chart parts of Tasmania's coast. William Bligh returned to the Derwent River in 1792, this time with the ships and , again en route to Tahiti. He had been ordered to complete his previous mission of obtaining breadfruit from Tahiti for the West Indian plantations, and remembered the Derwent's favourable position to stop en route. The following year, French explorers Bruni d'Entrecasteaux and Jean Michel Huon de Kermadec, who were in command of French ship Recherche and the French ship Espérance sailed into the river and charted it more extensively in the course of their search for Jean François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse. He named the river 'Riviere du Nord'. During the stopover, his expedition also established a vegetable garden at Recherche Bay for use by future expeditions. A few months later, the English captain, Sir John Hayes also sought shelter for his ships Duke of Clarence and Duchess of Bengal there. It was during this visit that Hayes named the river as the 'Derwent River', in honour of the River Derwent in Cumbria. The next visit to the Derwent River came from George Bass and Matthew Flinders in 1798 and 1799, when they circumnavigated Tasmania aboard the Norfolk, being the first Europeans to prove that Tasmania was an island. British interest in the island then waned for the next four years.

Although several European explorers had navigated along the coast of Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) between the 1770s and 1790s, a strong English interest in the Derwent River only began with the return of English Royal Navy Captain William Bligh in 1792 aboard He stopped briefly in Adventure Bay to take on fresh water before continuing his voyage. With Bass and Flinders' confirmation in 1798 that Van Diemen's Land was an island, the British claim to the east coast of Australia was not legally valid for Van Diemen's Land. Baudin's presence there caused alarm at the prospect of the French establishing a rival colony, and the Governor of New South Wales, Philip Gidley King dispatched a request to the Colonial Office in London for permission to establish a new settlement there. Whilst King awaited news from London regarding Van Diemen's Land, separate news arrived that the short lived peace with France had been broken by the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars. King decided he could not afford to await word from London and risk France establishing a naval base on Van Diemen's Land. Acting on his own initiative, he dispatched an expedition under the command of a young 23 year old Lieutenant John Bowen to establish a colony there. Bowen was in command of the whaler Albion. Accompanying him were 21 male and three female convicts, guarded by a company of soldiers of the New South Wales Corps, as well as a small number of free settlers. The supply ship, the arrived on 8 September 1803, and 'Albion arrived on 13 September 1803, thereby creating a presence in Van Diemen's Land for the British. Collins arrived in Port Phillip Bay in October 1803. After establishing a short lived settlement at Sullivan Bay, near the current site of Sorrento, he wrote to Governor King, expressing his dissatisfaction with the location, and seeking permission to relocate the settlement to the Derwent River. Realising the fledgling settlement at Risdon Cove would be well reinforced by Collins' arrival, King agreed to the proposal. Collins arrived at the Derwent River on 16 February 1804, aboard Ocean, immediately taking command from the young Lieutenant by virtue of rank (Collins was a colonel). The settlement that Bowen had established at Risdon Cove was vulnerable to changing tides and poor water supply and did not impress Collins. After three trips across the Derwent River to view possible alternatives, he decided to relocate the settlement 5 mile (8 km) down river, on the opposite shore. They landed at Sullivans Cove on 21 February 1804, and created the settlement that was to become Hobart, making it the second oldest established colony in Australia. In January 1807, Lieutenant Thomas Laycock carried dispatches on horseback from Launceston to Hobart Town overland, taking eight days to traverse the island, and he became the first European to make that journey through the interior. His southward journey followed a more westerly route, and he found the mountainous terrain hard going; however his return journey ran through the flatter midlands, and the modern main Midland Highway still follows a similar route to that first Hobart to Launceston ride. By 1817, an increasing number of female convicts were arriving in Hobart town, and there was not enough room to keep them in the first Hobart Town gaol. Permission was granted in 1821 by NSW Governor Lachlan Macquarie for the construction of a separate gaol for female convicts. Despite this, construction took nearly eight years, and it wasn't until December 1828 that the first female convicts began to be transferred to the Cascades Female Factory, in the foothills of Mount Wellington. The “female factories” in Tasmania constituted a system of female convict prisons located in four locations across Van Diemen’s Land, in Hobart, George Town, Launceston and Ross. The latter factories were constructed in the early 1830s to alleviate overcrowding issues within the Cascades Female Factory. Eleanor Casella argues that the design of the female factories were predicated on the thought that convict women could be morally reformed through the prescription of manual labour, thus these institutions were essentially turned into economically productive, government supervised “manufactories”. According to Adrien Howe, the experiences of the convict women in Tasmania’s colony during the nineteenth century were much more interlinked with the prison institutions then the male convicts, who were largely employed in the construction of infrastructure within the colony. Textile manufacturing was chosen as the primary program to implement within the female factories as, besides being a traditionally gendered industry, it was the most practical to fit within the factory like atmosphere of the prison. The factory played a multiplicity of roles within Hobart’s society; it functioned as source of labour, a marriage bureau, gaol and hospital. After women had served their sentences, or after periods of nominal good behaviour, they were promoted to a “hiring class” which meant that they were ready to be employed within domestic service, often on farmland, within the hospital or a role within the prison itself. The factory administration was responsible for integrating the female convicts back into society. Today, the Cascades Female Factory remains as a historic site for tourists to explore the heritage of Hobart’s female convict landscape. By 1851, there was a sum of approximately 12,000 convict women that had been transported to the Van Diemen’s Land colony. Casella maintains that contrary to traditional portrayals of these women as “a monolithic bunch of damned whores,” most of them were convicted of petty crime, serving sentences of seven to fourteen years. The opening of penal settlements at Maria Island (1825) and Port Arthur (1832) on the Tasman Peninsula, 111 km Southeast of Hobart Town, brought more importance to the island's East Coast, which resulted in the closing of Sarah Island penitentiary in 1833. The first land grants at Richmond were made in 1823, however the township began to grow much more rapidly after Port Arthur was founded, as it soon became an important stop on the highway to Port Arthur. Richmond Gaol was soon opened in 1825, and the oldest surviving bridge in Australia, the Richmond Bridge, was built there across the Coal River in 1823. The penitentiary at Port Arthur, although now remembered as a cruel and unpleasant place, was at the time one of the most advanced prisons. Improvements were made with the opening in 1853 of the 'separate prison', also known as the "model prison", the design of which was based on the modernised prison of Pentonville in London. Conditions were fair, a legitimate attempt was made to reform men, and boys were taught a trade and given religious lessons in a very pious society. Port Arthur was guarded by day and night by a line of soldiers and dogs, across the isthmus of the peninsula. In 1831 the need for better facilities to contain the convicts within Hobart Town was answered by the opening of the Campbell Street Gaol with its magnificent Penitentiary Chapel, and open execution yard. Law Courts were soon added, and remained in use until 1983. The gaol features underground passages and solitary confinement cells. Port Arthur the site of the secondary punishment penitentiary opened in 1830. By 1835 it had grown to house 800 convicts, many of whom regularly served in chain gangs. It operated until 1877. Only 6% of convicts in Hobart were kept confined in gaols. The majority were used on government building projects, such as the Sorell Causeway, or worked as indentured servants for free settlers. Despite this relative freedom, some continued to offend and transgressors were often confined by heavy leg irons, and flogged for minor indiscretions. Convict transportation to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) was to last exactly 50 years. In the 1840s, a strong local opposition group grew in Hobart Town known as the Anti Transportation League, and they began lobbying the government to call for an end to convict transportation. By 1853 transportation to Van Diemen's Land was abolished, but many of the convicts already there still had lengthy sentences to complete. The success of the Anti Transportation League led to locals calling for responsible self government for the colony of Van Diemen's Land, which was granted in 1856, with Hobart Town remaining as the colonial capital.

1830 saw the consolidation of land settlement throughout the island. The most fertile parts of the island were now occupied by land holdings. Until 1831, the governor had extensive power for granting land, along with the disposition of convict labour. After 1831, free grants were abolished and all land was then sold by auction. This attracted the new class of "gentry farmers", who were more successful than earlier farmers, as the gentry farmers knew more about farming, and had more money to pay for tools and labour. Many of them became successful sheep farmers, and capitalised on the Australian wool booms on the 1820s and 30's. Many small scale breweries had soon sprung up. No large scale operations began until in 1824, when Charles Degreaves established the Cascade Brewery near the Cascade Falls in the foothills of Mount Wellington. By 1832, the brewery outgrew its original building. Degreaves relocated the brewery to the site of an old sawmill, slightly further upstream along the Hobart Rivulet, and a further three storeys were added to the main building in 1927, creating the iconic structure that survives to this day. The Brewery is still in operation and remains Australia's longest continually operating brewery. This was a particularly important time for whaling and its associated industries of shipbuilding and cooperage in Hobart Town as well. The waterfront of Hobart was upgraded in the 1830s to account for ever increasing numbers of visiting foreign ships. Although the dock areas remained quite rough and ready, other areas of Hobart Town were developing into quite pleasant locales. In the early 1820s the shoreline of the river immediately to the north of the town had been set aside as the Kings Domain (later Queen's Domain) for use as a public space. Van Diemen's Land had been proclaimed a separate colony from New South Wales in 1824; it had been decided by 1825 that Hobart Town would be the new colony's capital city. An executive council (effectively a cabinet of chief public servants) and a legislative council (consisting of free citizens chosen by the government and lesser public servants) as well as a local judiciary in the form of the Supreme Court of Tasmania were established in Hobart Town, with the Supreme Court Building being erected in 1824. Governor Arthur continued control as before, however. Governor Arthur drew up plans for a Botanical Gardens on the domain, which were opened in 1828, and for the creation of a grand new Government House nearby that was opened in 1858. Later that year, a convict built brick wall was added which featured internal fireplaces that heated the wall in order to allow exotic tropical plants to grow along its length. A second such wall, 280 metres in length was later added, and is now the longest surviving convict built wall in Australia. However, Hobart Town had grown to become a quaint, picturesque and thriving southern ocean port town. The whaling, sealing, wool and wattle oil industries were booming, as were agricultural crops such as wheat and apple growing. The economy was thriving, and life was quite comfortable for the merchants and free residents of the colony's capital. Hopkins was influential in the early history of Van Diemen's Land. He became a community leader and magistrate soon after arriving. He campaigned heavily to abolish transportation, which had already been abolished in New South Wales. This placed a heavier burden on Van Diemen's Land, which by 1830 was Britain's only external gaol. He was one of the founders of congregationalism in Hobart Town and built a chapel at his own expense in Collins Street. He also contributed to building funds for the still existent St. David's Anglican Cathedral, as well as other Presbyterian and Wesleyan churches, and started scholarships for theological students. Charles Darwin visited Hobart Town arriving there on 5 February 1836 as part of the expedition. He writes of Hobart Town and the Derwent estuary in his Voyage of the Beagle:
The lower parts of the hills which skirt the bay are cleared; and the bright yellow fields of corn, and dark green ones of potatoes, appear very luxuriant I was chiefly struck with the comparative fewness of the large houses, either built or building. Hobart Town, from the census of 1835, contained 13,826 inhabitants, and the whole of Tasmania 36,505. If I was obliged to emigrate I certainly should prefer this place: the climate & aspect of the country almost alone would determine me. Hobart Town had become a town dependent on external trade. Although many of the primary industries were highly successful, they were never conducted on a scale sufficient to bring long lasting wealth. By the 1830s, the sealing industry had petered out, and although whaling persisted, it was on a scale diminished from the first twenty years. Despite the decline in these industries, the export of Tasmanian wool continued to thrive. New industries were required to replace the declining trades, and shipbuilding was one of the new successes for Hobart Town in the 1830s. The quality of the island's hardwood timber resources, combined with excellent port facilities and access to major shipping routes meant that by 1850, Hobart Town was producing more wooden ships than all other Australian ports combined. Hobart built ships plied all of the world's oceans, and could be found as far a field as the United States and Europe. As often proved to be the case in Hobart's history, the world advanced faster than the city. Just as Hobart Town was growing to dominate the international shipbuilding trade, shortages of labour struck the industry, as men migrated en masse to the Victorian goldfields, and the shift towards steam and steel in shipbuilding undermined Hobart's production of quality wooden built ships. In 1835 John Lee Archer designed and oversaw the construction of the sandstone Customs House facing Sullivans Cove, with construction completed in 1840. The building would later be used as Tasmania's parliament house, but its use as the Customs House is commemorated by a pub bearing the same name (built 1844) which is now a favourite of yachtsmen after they have completed the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. Many fine churches were also constructed. The Scot's Church was built in Bathurst Street from 1834–36, and a small brick building within the churchyard had been used from 1834 as the first Presbyterian Church in Hobart Town. The Salamanca Place warehouses and the Theatre Royal were also constructed in this period. The Greek revival St George's Anglican Church in Battery Point was completed in 1838, and later had a grand Gothic tower, designed by James Blackburn, added in 1847. St Joseph's was built in 1840. Although many such fine churches were being built throughout the town, it took another twenty years for Hobart to get a cathedral. Sir John Franklin arrived in Hobart Town on 5 January 1837 with his wife Lady Jane Franklin to become the 5th Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land. The colony they took command of was orientated towards commerce and industry, but lacking in culture and opportunities for education. Lady Jane was passionate about improving the town and colony, as was her husband. However, their liberal views were not well received by many members of Hobart Town's civil service, and civilians who benefited from exploiting convict labour did not appreciate their humane views. Despite this, the Franklins did much to reform Hobart Town society and the colony of Van Diemen's Land in general. Lady Jane Franklin ordered built a replica Greek temple, modelled on the Parthenon and designed by James Blackburn in the bush in Lenah Valley, which opened in 1841. Inside the temple, she housed the Lady Jane Franklin Museum, resplendent with replicas of the Elgin Marbles. The Franklins inaugurated the Royal Hobart Regatta in 1838. This event has been held annually since, and features sailing, rowing, swimming, and other water sports events, culminating in a fireworks display. They also founded Christ College, now part of the University of Tasmania, the first tertiary education institution in the city. Lady Jane attempted to establish evening gatherings to discuss art, literature and science, but these proved unpopular with well to do 'Hobartians', who preferred that she host parties and dances instead. Not to be outdone by his wife, Lieutenant Governor Franklin opened the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery a year later in October 1843. In 1844 he also founded the Royal Society of Tasmania, the first such Royal Society outside of the United Kingdom. The enlightened governorship of the Franklins brought much social and cultural improvement to Hobart Town, and culminated in the town's incorporation as a city in 1842. The town had grown from a defensive outpost into a penal settlement, and from there, into a prosperous trading port. Free settlers were outstripping the arrival of convicts, and soon the colonists were clamouring for an end to transportation, and greater self representation. The Tasmanian Journal of Natural Science was first published in 1840; however economic depression hit all of the Australian colonies that year, and Hobart Town suffered badly in what was to be the beginning of the first of many economic downturns. By the mid nineteenth century, elegant sandstone public buildings had replaced the crude early mud and timber edifices of the pioneering days, and many fine stately colonial mansions were being built in the town by the colony's more successful citizens, such as Stowell and Secheron House (1831) in Battery Point; Runnymede (1836) in New Town (originally called 'Cairn Lodge', it was built for prominent Scottish born lawyer Robert Pitcairn); Narryna House (1840) in Battery Point; Bellkirk House (1863) in Hobart; Lenna House (1880) in Battery Point; and Westella House (1890) in Hobart. Although not as grand as some of the stately homes, many fine cottages from the same period still survive, such as Barton Cottage (1837), Moina Cottage (1850), Colville Cottage (1877), and Cromwell Cottage (1880). There is also whole row of magnificent sandstone houses along Macquarie Street dating from the 1850s that survive much as they originally were.

Hobart Town had grown into a bustling port town by the mid 19th century. Local industries and commerce were thriving, and many local businesses began to succeed. Hobart Town's docks were struggling to cope with the demand now placed on them. The town's population was nearing 60,000 and ships were entering and departing the Derwent River on a nearly daily basis. The demand for berths and storage saw the construction of new docks and sandstone warehouses in an area which had been known as the 'Cottage Green', the former row of original cottages being demolished to make way for sandstone warehouses. By the mid 1840s, the bustling dock area had become known as the New Wharf, with access via Salamanca Place, named in honour of the Duke of Wellington's 1812 victory in the Battle of Salamanca. Hobart's first major problems came with the combination of a general economic downturn in the 1840s, followed by the Victorian gold rush of the early 1850s. Large scale migration to the Victorian goldfields occurred, creating a shortfall in local labour resources. As a response, the once booming economy of Hobart began to decline. Despite the economic and population declines of the early 1850s, the decade proved to be one of social and cultural advancement for the young city. Transportation of convicts to Van Diemen's Land was abolished in 1853, the last convict ship from England, the St. Vincent, arrived on 26 May 1853. Calls for responsible self government were successful, with a new constitution drafted, and Van Diemen's Land became an independent British colony in 1856. The new colony immediately changed its name to Tasmania, to disassociate itself with its past as a penal colony. Hobart Town was proclaimed as the capital, and the Customs House at Sullivans Cove was renovated to accommodate a two house Parliament House with the previous Tasmanian Legislative Council re constituted as the upper house, and the newly formed Tasmanian House of Assembly as the lower house. Two years later in 1858, the elegant Tudor Gothic style Government House was completed, and by 1866 a magnificent Italian Renaissance style Town Hall had been completed adjacent to Franklin Square and the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. As the colony grew, so too did the need for more administrative buildings. The Treasury Offices were built between 1859 and 1864, and a Registry of Deeds Office was built in 1884. It was not just the administrative needs of the colony that were increasingly being catered for, but also the spiritual needs. Construction on a Catholic Cathedral designed by architect William Wardell, widely regarded as Australia's finest architect of the 19th century, was commenced in 1860, and was to be built on the site of the first Roman Catholic Church in Tasmania. In 1866, St Mary's Catholic Cathedral was opened, but without the originally designed tower. The magnificent St David's Anglican Cathedral, seat of the Bishop of Tasmania, and administrative centre of the Anglican Diocese of Tasmania, was completed in 1868 in high Gothic style, designed by George Frederick Bodley. By the late 19th century, the central waterfront area of Wapping, which included the original wharf area built on Hunter Island, had declined dramatically as a result of government attempts to control prostitution, gambling and excessive drinking. As the areas of Wapping and to a lesser extent, Glebe declined, Battery Point and Sandy Bay located to the south of the town, were becoming home to the town's more prosperous residents. Soon, Battery Point was centred on the pleasant Arthur's Circus, where many of the cottages and fine homes of the period can still be seen. Whereas Glebe enjoyed a resurgence, the shanties and brothels of Wapping were condemned, and many were destroyed to make way for new developments, such as the wool store, that survives to this day as the Old Woolstore Hotel. Part of the area had already been reclaimed in the early 1850s for the construction of the Hobart Gas Works, which was opened amidst much fanfare on 9 March 1857, bringing gas lighting to the streets of Hobart Town for the first time. In 1870, the high shot tower was constructed by Joseph Moir at Taroona, south of Hobart, for the purpose of manufacturing shot for the Tasmanian Colonial Forces. It used gravity to drop molten lead down the inside of the tower, which formed spherical pellets and solidify when it landed in cold water at the base of the tower. The Hobart Electric Tramway Company commenced operation in 1893, providing Hobart with the first complete electric tramway in the Southern Hemisphere. The tramway proved very popular and the route from the city to Sandy Bay Beach was always crowded in summers during the early 20th century. The tramways expanded rapidly, and suburban growth was encouraged by the lines. By the early 20th century, tramlines ran from the city depot to North Hobart, Lenah Valley, Springfield, Glenorchy, Cascade Brewery, Proctor's Road, and Sandy Bay. Single deck trams were introduced in 1906, and the Hobart City Council took over control of the company in 1912, renaming it the Hobart Metropolitan Tramways. Electric trolley buses were introduced in 1935. An economic depression struck Hobart in the early 1890s, but some companies succeeded in spite of it. In 1891 Henry Jones established a jam factory in which he began to manufacture preserved jams and spreads using locally sourced high quality fruit produce. The factory soon came to be known simply as 'The Jam Factory' to locals, and was soon exporting jam throughout the British Empire. His company soon grew into a substantial business under the name of Henry Jones IXL, and established a second factory in Victoria. In 1895 American writer Mark Twain visited Hobart as part of his worldwide tour of the British Empire, and wrote about his visit in his 1897 book Following the Equator. In it he writes:
How beautiful is the whole region, for form, and grouping, and opulence, and freshness of foliage, and variety of colour, and grace and shapeliness of the hills, the capes, the promontories; and then, the splendour of the sunlight, the dim, rich distances, the charm of the water glimpses! And it was in this paradise that the yellow liveried convicts were landed, and the Corps bandits quartered, and the wanton slaughter of the kangaroo chasing black innocents consummated on that autumn day in May, in the brutish old time. It was all out of keeping with the place, a sort of bringing of heaven and hell together.

Hobart had been badly affected by the depression of the 1890s. The population had declined, and the economy was in recession. The early 20th century saw a shift in economic emphasis away from the traditional agricultural primary industries towards industrialisation. Henry Jones' waterfront factory had outgrown its requirements by 1911 as demand continued to grow, and Henry Jones IXL built a grand new factory on the eastern side of Constitution Dock, which was the first reinforced concrete building in Australia. In what was a pre war period of development, several new buildings were added to the Hobart skyline in the early 20th century. In 1911, the grand new Hobart City Hall was opened, which had been designed by competition winner R. N. Butler. A new Customs House, built in classical revival style, was opened in 1902 adjoining the original 1815 Bond Store. The iconic grand sandstone Hobart General Post office with classical clock tower, designed by architect Alan Walker in High Victorian style, and built through funds donated by the people of Hobart in celebration of Australian Federation, opened on 2 September 1905. A telephone exchange was added in 1907. On 7 March 1912, Roald Amundsen telegraphed from the Hobart GPO that he had successfully reached the South Pole the previous December. Although many bushfires had burned around the Hobart region since settlement, Hobart's relatively small size had meant few had caused serious damage. That changed in the summer of 1913–14, when several small bushfires burned on the slopes of Mount Wellington, and destroyed orchards, several buildings and livestock. With the economy lagging, the Premier Walter Lee toured pre war Germany, whose economy was booming. He was inspired by the hydroelectricity schemes of the Ruhr Valley, and realised the same method of cheap electricity production could benefit Tasmania with its mountainous interior. In 1914, the state government established the Hydro Electric Department (later Hydro Electric Commission) to provide cheap electricity in the hope of attracting industry to the island. Upriver from the city key industries were established including the Pasminco Electrolytic Zinc Company, Cadbury's Chocolate Factory (1920) and the Boyer Newsprint Mills, and since the early 20th century the cheap ready supply of hydro electric power has meant Hobart has been able to maintain a small industrial base. It has never attracted the heavy industry so desired by the state's politicians, which meant that Hobart has remained the least industrialised of all of the Australian capital cities. The transfer of ownership which brought free broadcasting to Hobart for the first time, was in time for Hobart listeners to receive news that the first Tasmanian born Prime Minister, Joseph Lyons had been appointed. 7ZL was broadcast on the 580 AM frequency with a one kilowatt transmitter. By 1937 the Hobart audience had grown sufficiently to warrant a second station, and in that year the Post Master General announced that 7ZR would begin transmitting on the 1160 AM frequency. The following year, Hobart listeners tuned into 7ZR to hear Don Bradman score 144 in a tour match against the Tasmanians at the TCA Ground. Since its inception, 7ZR has since remained with the ABC and now forms part of the ABC Local Radio network as ABC Radio Hobart. As a result of the accident and the economic questions, Hobart's trams were abandoned that year in favour of the Metropolitan Transport Trust's fleet of petrol driven buses. Most of the fleet of trams were sold off for scrap metal, although some were placed into storage, and the early 21st century saw calls for the restoration of a tram service, possibly as a reduced tourism service along the Hobart waterfront. 1967 proved to be a disastrous year for the city of Hobart. On 7 February 1967, a combination of high winds, a heat wave, ill conceived back burning and deliberate arson led to the worst outbreak of urban bushfire in Hobart's recorded history. The fires, which came to be known as 'Black Tuesday', swept down both shores of the Derwent River, driven by high winds, and destroyed countless homes and other property. 52 people were killed in the Hobart area alone, and 10 in other parts of the state. Until the disastrous Black Saturday bushfires of 2009 in Victoria, the 1967 Tasmanian bushfires represented Australia's greatest loss of life on a single day outside of wartime. The tourism boom continued throughout the 1960s, and prompted local hotelier Greg Farrell, head of Federal Hotels group and owner of the Riviera Hotel in Lower Sandy Bay to lobby the State government to allow the construction of Australia's first legal casino. The issue divided locals and politicians alike, and a referendum was called in 1968. With a 58% majority, the referendum was passed, and construction began on what was to become an icon of the Hobart waterfront, the 17 story dodecagonal (12 sided) tower of the Wrest Point Hotel Casino. It opened in 1973 amid much fanfare and was soon leading another tourism boom with gamblers and celebrities visiting from throughout the world. Despite the double boom in tourism in the 1950s and 1960s, Tasmania's geographic isolation deterred the craved foreign investment in industry that was needed to stimulate the economy, and the government was constantly dealing with economic fluctuations. Hobart went through short periods of building booms, followed by longer stagnations, a cycle that continued into the 1990s. On Sunday 5 January 1975, a disaster occurred in Hobart when the handyweight bulk ore carrier MV Lake Illawarra collided with the Tasman Bridge in what would later be referred to as the Tasman Bridge disaster. The ship crashed into pylon 19, and then bounced across to strike pylon 18, knocking both pylons down, and also causing a 127 metre section of steel and concrete roadway to collapse onto the deck of the ship. The Illawarra sank, killing seven crew, and five motorists were killed when they drove off the gap, plunging into the river below. Whilst many ferry services were launched to try and aid commuters stranded by the disaster, others had to endure a 20 km round trip to the temporary bridge that was constructed near Risdon Cove. Although it isolated many city workers, the disaster had a positive effect in that it encouraged a boom in the establishment of local commercial services on the eastern shore in places such as Rosny Park. The disaster prompted the development of a second major crossing of the Derwent River near the location of the temporary Bailey bridge at Risdon Cove, 10 km to the north of the Tasman Bridge. With Federal Government funding, the $49 million Bowen Bridge was opened on 23 February 1984 by newly elected Prime Minister Bob Hawke. The bridge was named after Lieutenant John Bowen who had established the first British settlement at Risdon Cove in 1803, approximately 500 metres from the eastern landing of the new bridge. The Tasman Bridge was eventually repaired, which took over two years and cost an additional $44 million. Many additional safety features, such as navigation aids, were added, and the opportunity was taken to expand the capacity to five lanes. The fifth lane is a central reversible lane that follows am and pm peak hour crossing times. One of the largest building projects in Hobart for many years was completed in 1987 when the unpopular waterfront Hobart Sheraton Hotel (now the Grand Chancellor) was opened. Taking over two years in its construction and built on a site in the docks area, its rooms have exceptional views of Sullivans Cove and the Derwent River, but the hotel's construction was extremely unpopular with residences and commercial businesses immediately to the north who had previously enjoyed similar views, now obscured by the hotel's construction. The hotel's builders were also criticised for not sourcing enough of the sandstone coloured bricks that were meant to complement Hobart's colonial waterfront heritage. When the bricks ran out early in construction, they had to complete the project with a pinker shade of bricks that many people disliked. The construction of the Hobart Sheraton broke Wrest Point Hotel Casino's monopoly on the 4–5 star demographic. The 1990s was a decade of substantial change for Hobart. Although a nationwide recession brought high levels of unemployment and a lowering rate of home ownership, a profound shift in the political landscape followed on from the 1989 state government election. The conservative Liberal government of Robin Gray had sought a third term in office, but had dramatically underestimated the widespread opposition to the construction of another paper pulp mill within the state, and the growing groundswell of support for the Tasmanian Greens party. In what was the worst outbreak of bushfires in the 1990s, 6 houses and over 3,000 hectares of land in the Hobart area were destroyed by fire on 17 January 1998. In what was one of the largest projects to go ahead in the late 1990s, a partnership between the Hotel Grand Chancellor, the Australian Commonwealth government and the Tasmanian Government created a permanent home for the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra when the 1,100 seat Federation Concert Hall was opened on 4 September 2002. The hall's design sparked controversy due to its polished brass exterior cladding, but was welcomed by the orchestra who had been forced to play at a variety of venues from the Hobart City Hall to the Hobart Odeon Theatre. It had formed part of an overall redevelopment of the Wapping area, that had seen the old Metropolitan Transport Trust bus garages, lower Collins Street, and other buildings restored.

In the early 21st century, Hobart enjoyed the benefits of Tasmania's economic climb out of the recession of the 1990s. Unemployment dropped and housing prices rose, as many people from mainland states and overseas moved to the state capital to take advantage of the cheap but high standard of living. The stagnation of population growth slowly reversed, and the first decade of the 21st century has seen Hobart's population begin to steadily rise again. The city continues to be home to a creative and progressive community who are more in touch with their local environment than most cities worldwide, although the issue of logging in Tasmanian old growth forest continues to divide opinions. A thriving local arts community exists, with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra world renowned. The Hobart City Council offers an annual City of Hobart Art Prize, and maintains the Hobart Council's Public Art Programme. The council see it as part of their remit to maintain and develop a healthy variety of activities that enhance the cultural life of Hobart. To do this they provide grants and funding for a variety of cultural activities including arts, theatre, festivals, and other events, and also provide financial support for the City of Hobart Eisteddfod Society, the Salamanca Arts Centre, the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, and the Theatre Royal. In 2008, widespread discussions commenced about the possible regeneration of large sections of Hobart's waterfront, particularly around Macquarie Point, and the old railyards near the docks to the north eastern side of Sullivans Cove. Such a project could drastically alter the aesthetic appearance of Hobart. This area had once been a major rail hub, and the old Hobart Railway Station (now a part of the ABC studios) still exists nearby. A possible alternative use is the construction of new buildings for the Royal Hobart Hospital. In October 2008, the Tasmanian Government announced it planned to spend $150,000 on a public education programme, outlining its intentions for the hospital development.