The Obelisk's sesquicentennial

The Obelisk in Hyde Park at the intersection of Elizabeth and Bathurst Streets is 150 years old this month.I thought it was just an odd Victorian monument, but it turns out that it’s actually a sewer vent. That explains the filagreed finial. It's not solid – it's a chimney.It was built to protect sewage workers from the accumulation of poisonous gases. From an 1894 council report: "The Obelisk