Whiteman’s Commercial Building
76–100 Argyle Street
Camden
Lot 1, DP 1027952
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| Whitemans General Store 86-100 Argyle St. 1900s. CIPP |
History and Description
The Whiteman family conducted a general store in Argyle Street on the same site for over 100 years.
In 1878 Charles
Thomas Whiteman, who operated a family business in Sydney bringing produce to
Camden bought a single storey home at the corner of Argyle and Oxley Street
and ran his store from the site. (SHI) In 1878 a fire destroyed the business.
CT Whiteman was
previously a storekeeper in Goulburn and Newtown and later married local Camden
girl Anne Bensley in 1872. Whiteman, was a staunch Methodist, and was an important public figure in Camden and
served as the town’s first mayor from 1892 to 1894.
CT Whiteman moving
to premises in Argyle Street in 1889 occupied by ironmonger J.Burret and
Whiteman modified the building for a shopfront conversion. (SHI)
The store was leased to Woodhill family from 1903 to 1906.
The original Argyle Street building was an early timber verandahed Victorian and Federation period
store. It was a two-storey rendered masonry building with hipped tile roof,
projecting brick chimneys. The second storey had painted timber framed windows which
were shaded by a steeply pitched tile roof awning supported on painted timber
brackets.(SHI)
A two-storey addition was constructed in 1936 and the verandah posts were removed in 1939 when this policy was implemented by Camden Municipal Council.
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| Whiteman Brothers 86-100 Argyle Street in 1923 (Camden Images) |
There were later
shopfront modifications to the adjacent mid 20th Century facade street
frontage which included wide aluminium framed glazing and awning to the ground
level of the building. (SHI)
The business sold a
variety of goods including menswear, haberdashery, ladieswear, hardware, and produce and became one of the
longest-serving in Camden.
The premises were known as the Cumberland Stores from 1889 to 1940.
In
the 1940s the store supplied groceries, drapery, men’s wear, boots and shoes,
farm machinery, hardware, produce and stationery. (Gibson, 1940)
 |
| FC Whiteman & Sons at 86-100 Argyle Street in 1978 (Camden Images) |
The Whiteman’s Store was trading as Argyle
Living when it closed in 2006 under the control of Fred Whiteman. The Whiteman
family had operated a general store in Camden for 123 years. On the closure of
Argyle Living the store sold homewares, clothing, furniture and a range of
knickknacks and was the largest in Camden with 1200 square metres of space.
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| Argyle Living Shopping Bag from the last Whiteman's Store in Argyle Street Camden in 2006. (I Willis, 2017) |
Condition and Use
Currently a
commercial premises and arcade in Argyle Street Camden
Heritage Significance
The former site of Whiteman's store was one of the longest-serving businesses in the Camden district. The buildings are an important historical reminder of the growth and development of Camden township from its late Victorian period to the new beginnings of post-war Camden. (SHI) |
| FC Whiteman & Sons at 86-100 Argyle Street in 1995 (Camden Images) |
Heritage Listing
Local Environment Plan
Item 9
State Heritage Inventory NSW ID
1280144
Australian Heritage Commission National Estate Database
Read more
Julie Wrigley, ‘Whiteman family’. The District Reporter, 8 December 2017.
