What businesses and owners have helped carve out what today is Nowra?

A new book by local historians Robyn Florance and Alan Clark goes a long way to answering many of those questions.

The renowned local authors take us on a fascinating journey through time thanks to their stunning new book, The Changing Face of the Nowra CBD.

Did you know Nowra once had two picture theatres?

Or had two pubs in its main street?

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What about a small park that was once in the Nowra CBD that led to the then Shoalhaven Shire Council administration building?

And did you know that council’s centre of business was once in Junction Street?

What about where Richmond House is?

You probably don't know one of Nowra’s most prominent and well known buildings by that name.

I’m talking about The People’s Emporium?

Still baffled?

I suppose it does depend on your generation - the building we’re talking about in its last incarnation was Spotlight in Berry Street.

You could know it as Woodhills, Mates, Emmotts, JB Youngs or Grace Brothers.

No Nowra story would be complete without mention of the building and business, built for Emporium founder John McArthur, who officially named it Richmond House.

These and many more fascinating facts and stories make up The Changing Face of the Nowra CBD.

Mrs Florance and Mr Clark, through their painstaking research over many years, are able to take us on that incredible journey.

From its early days of surveying in 1852, through to the town becoming fully established after devastating floods at Terara, the then town hub in 1860 and 1870, through to the modern day.

The town’s changing face is also brilliantly documented by a superb array of historic and modern photographs, which according to Mrs Florance pay a major role in capturing the town's growth and change.

A number of local businesses that have been operating in town for generations are also featured - like Ison and Co, McCallums Sports Bait and Tackle, the Walker family in various incarnations, Basha’s, as well as other longtime businesses like Stanley Johns Menswear, Murphy’s Tyre Centre, Flamingo Florist, McLeans Cycles (now Nowra Cycle Centre),  McLaren’s Shows (now Comfort Shoe Store), and, of course, the Roxy Theatre.

It really is an historical look at the various way Nowra has changed over the years.

The Changing Face of the Nowra CBD will be officially launched at the Nowra Regional Gallery in Berry Street, Nowra on Thursday, October 25, from 5.30pm.