By SAMUEL BARTLETT
New stages of the Newcastle Inner City Bypass are expected to cut through what was once the Lambton Camp, a shanty town which housed up to 130 residents from the Great Depression until 1960.
Little remains of the shanty town also known as 'Hollywood' or 'Doggyville,' but Transport NSW is calling on residents to share their experiences to preserve the sites history, despite the new upgrades.
Transport NSW Regional Director, Anna Zycki says the camp was built alongside what used to be the Newcastle to Wallsend tramline.
"We want to know more about the living conditions in this camp, who the residents were or what their daily lives were like," Ms Zycki says.
"We also welcome contributions from historians with information or pictures they'd like to share," she says.
Transport NSW is employing a specialist archaeological team to investigate and recover whatever artifacts remain on the site which will then be documented and stored.
Ms Zycki says the information will be recorded in an archaeological excavation report and "it will be available to students and historians via Newcastle City Council, local libraries and the local historical society."
The build team will dig further into the site over a number of months to create a thorough historical recollection of the area.
Ms Zycki also says the historical work won't impact the completion date of the major upgrades as this research has always been part of the planning for the project.
To make a contribution to the Hollywood Heritage Project, contact specialist archaeologist Kylie Seretis by Monday 5 April, via email at kylie.seretis@caseyandlower.com.au or by phone on 0450 909 483
Portion of an aerial photograph from 1944 that shows the “Hollywood” settlement (left; Newcastle Library, Local Studies. [Run 5, Image 01465]) compared to Google Earth images as of 2014 (right)
