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Sheerness had become an independent parish no longer subordinate to Minster. It was all change for the Island in 1858.
An open air swimming bath - the largest in the country - was opened, and the Hippodrome was a high class theatre of entertainment.
A very different kind of performing was acted out in the County Court House in Blue Town.
Gas street lighting had been introduced and state-of-the-art electric telegraphs were erected in the Dockyard.
Blue Town had its Royal Dockyard Church, its fine Admiralty House, Dockyard, pier and courthouse, but the houses were little more than a cluster of wooden hovels.
There were pubs, flop houses, cafes, and dimly-lit shops but it was a community.
Families lived six to eight in the back-to-back houses, and shared an outside toilet and water pump.
Fire was an ever-present threat, but flames which had destroyed between 50 and 60 houses, also curbed a cholera outbreak.
Mile Town by comparison was regal. Edward Street and the Royal Hotel were built by Edward Banks and Holy Trinity Church stood proud.
The National School had opened.