Archaeologists will be employed to sift through potential remnants of a shanty town that once existed on the future route of the Newcastle Inner City Bypass.
Transport for NSW has announced it will engage a specialist team ahead of work starting at the northern end of the bypass's fifth and final stage between New Lambton Heights and Jesmond.
The route passes through land once known as Lambton Camp, which was a shanty town occupied by homeless people from the Great Depression until years later.
"Very little remains of these tin shacks built in what was variously called Doggyville and Hollywood," Transport for NSW regional director Anna Zycki said.
"The camp was built alongside what was the then Newcastle to Wallsend tramline and housed a community of up to 130 people, including families, who lived in about 40 different structures."
The homes had dirt floors and were made of bags, sections of old water tanks, corrugated iron, flattened kerosene tins and timber scraps.
"Homeless families moved there after being evicted from Nobbys Camp by the Department of Defence in the 1930s," the Newcastle Herald'shistory columnist Mike Scanlon wrote in 2017.
Alongside the recovery of historic remains, Transport for NSW is calling for community input to help compile a history of the area.
"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 said.
"We want to hear from people who may have lived in the camp or whose relatives may have told them stories about living there.
"We also welcome contributions from local historians with information or pictures they'd like to share.
"The outcomes of the investigation ... will be documented in an archaeological excavation report and will be available ... via Newcastle council, local libraries and the local historical society."
To contribute to the Hollywood Heritage Project, contact Kylie Seretis by April 5 via email at kylie.seretis@caseyandlowe.com.au or by phone on 0450 909 483.
