From the 1820s Hobart's shipping needs grew quickly as the port became a hub of whale and seal-hunting industries. A row of warehouses, provedoring businesses and hotels was named Salamanca Place after a Spanish city, site of an English victory over Napoleon's armies.

When the Englishman James Clark Ross and the Frenchman Dumont d'Urville called into Hobart at the halfway point of their long Antarctic voyages, Salamanca Place had begun to take on Hunter Street's mantle as the centre of shipping commerce in Hobart. Both would have made use of its services in resupplying and refitting their ships for the Antarctic journey ahead.

By the 1840s a new Customs House, designed by the convict architect John Lee Archer, was built towards the northern end of Salamanca Place. In 1856 this was transformed into Tasmania's Parliament House.

If you have a fast broadband internet connection, you can also view the media-rich version of this Pathways site, which includes an audio narrative and slideshow.