Historical Australian Towns: Sydney, NSW, Photos: 1850s-2023

George Street, Sydney, NSW, in the 1850s

Millers Point - Parramatta River from the Flagstaff [1858] [Handcoloured view, looking across Millers Point to Lord Nelson Hotel on right, with Whalers Arms in centre and Albion House beyond] State Library of New South Wales

Views of Circular Quay, looking west, Sydney, NSW, Taken circa 1859, State Library of New South Wales

Campbell's Wharf, Sydney, NSW, Taken circa 1859, State Library of New South Wales

1860s

Blanket [Aboriginal man], ca. 1865-1866 / photograph by Morris & Billing London Saloon, 251 Pitt Street, Sydney, SLNSW

Wynyard Square, Sydney, NSW, 1862

Packhorse Hotel at 20 Campbell St, Sydney, NSW, in 1860s.

Bible Hall and Australian Mutual Provident Society, 87 Pitt Street Sydney, NSW, c 1860s. Demolished 1912. State Library NSW

Circular Quay, Sydney Harbour, NSW, c 1868, Australian National Maritime Museum on The Commons

1870s

A view in 1870s of Sydney, NSW, looking south towards Darling HarbourA view in 1870s of Sydney, looking south towards Darling Harbour

Macquarie Street, Sydney, NSW, in the 1870s. Taken from the corner of Albert Street, looking towards Circular Quay. SLNSW

Dawes Battery, Sydney, NSW c: 1870s, SLNSW

Rushcutters Bay, east view along New South Head Road with horse and cart at the tollgates. The Aboriginal settlement was behind the stone cottage centre left, 1870s, Sydney, NSW

Read about the Aboriginal settlements here

Sydney University, Parramatta Rd, NSW, 1870s

The Albert Cricket Ground, Redfern, NSW, 1870s, SLNSW

Queens Theatre, York Street, Sydney 1870s, SLNSW

Broadway in Sydney, NSW, in the early 1870s.The Railway Family Hotel at 825 George St is in the background

Workmen assembled in front of P. N. Russell Engineering works, Sydney, NSW, c. 1872, State Library of New South Wales

1880s

George St, Sydney, NSW, 1880s

Sydney west side and Darling Harbour, NSW, in the 1880s

Chinese Hawker in Sydney, NSW, 1880s SLNSW (by Arthur Syer in Millers Point)

Bond St looking east (Sydney CBD), 1880s. SLNSW

George Street, Sydney, NSW, in the 1880s. This photo (taken apparently at 1PM) is looking towards Martin Place, NSWGOV

George Street near Hunter Street, Sydney, NSW,1880s, SLNSW

Group of nine Aboriginal people in their camp, Sydney Harbour, New South Wales [picture] / C. Bayliss, Created/Published [188-?] NLAUST

Sydney ferries METEOR and ROSE and COURIER at Circular Quay and Mort & Co Ltd wool store bewteen 1887 and 1889. Public Domain Image

1890s

Children in Street from Sydney, NSW, ca. 1885-1890 / photographed by Arthur K. Syer

Elizabeth and King Streets Sydney, NSW, 1890s SLNSW

Staged corroboree, Sydney, 1892, Kerry, Charles H. (Charles Henry), 1858-1928 UQ

Blind musicians, Sydney, NSW, 1894, | State Library of NSW

File:Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW, 1895.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

THE SYDNEY CONTINGENT PASSING ALONG GEORGE STREET, SYDNEY Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), Saturday 24 April 1897

Hunter Street, Sydney, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 7 January 1899

1900s

St. Andrews and Town Hall Sydney, NSW, 1900s. NAA

George Street, Sydney, NSW, looking from The GPO in Martin Place.1900. SLNSW

HEAVY TRAFFIC IN CASTLEREAGH-STREET, NEAR THE KING-STREET CROSSING. Sydney, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 28 December 1901

Sydney Female Refuge, Pitt Street Haymarket, Sydney, NSW, circa 1901. Special citation
The Sydney Female Refuge was established in 1848, providing shelter for thousands of ‘fallen’ women including abandoned mothers, sex workers and the homeless. It was hoped inmates would morally reform by working long hours in the laundry and through religious instruction. Of the 42 women admitted in 1900, 11 became domestic servants, 15 left willingly, 7 returned to their parents and 9 were sent to hospitals. City of Sydney

PITT AND KING STREKT8 CROSSING, WHERE IT IS PROPOSED TO HAVE A SUBWAY. Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 28 December 1901

DISCHARGING THE CARGO OF THE VENTURA AT CIRCULAR QUAY. .Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 19 October 1901

Chinese in Sydney, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Wednesday 25 February 1903

Panorama of Circular Quay, Sydney, NSW, from a ship's mast, 1903, by Melvin Vaniman

Sydney Ladies' Cricket Team, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Wednesday 12 October 1904

Manly Beach, NSW, 1905, Australian National Maritime Museum on The Commons

Municipal Baths (Domain baths) , c1908, City of Sydney, NSW (The first free public baths, known variously as the Domain Baths, Corporation Bath, or the Fig Tree Baths, were built here in 1858 by Sydney City Council, as a public health measure in the days before indoor plumbing. Although some people did swim, most patrons used the seawater baths to keep clean)

WWI

Sydney Troops, NSW, Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), Saturday 5 June 1915

Troops returning to Sydney after World War I, c.1919, Coffs Harbour Regional Museum

1920s

Children riding billycarts down a street, Sydney, NSW, ca. 1920s. NLA

Central Station in Sydney, NSW, Australia. 1920s.

Sun Herald newspapers being loaded onto lorries, O'Connell Street, Sydney, NSW, ca. 1920s

Sydney's trams at Circular Quay Sydney, NSW, 1920s

O'Connell Street, looking in the direction of Pitt Street, Sydney, NSW. 1920s, SLNSW.

Construction workers using a pulley during the construction of the Sun Newspaper Building, Elizabeth Street, Sydney, NSW, ca. 1929, SLNSW

1930s

Sydney Harbour Bridge under construction, NSW, 1930, NLAUST

Backyards full of washing in the slums, Sydney, NSW, ca. 1930. Fairfax Corporation

Slum area at the back of St. Vincents Hospital, Darlinghurst, Sydney, 7 December 1932, SLAUST

Unemployed man sitting outside a tent reading underneath drying washing during the Great Depression at Domain Park, Sydney, 1932, Fairfax

People and traffic in Martin Place, Sydney, NSW, ca. 1930s, NLA

Railway Square 1930s, Sydney, NSW, Sam Hood, SLNSW

George street looking South near Angel Place, Sydney, NSW, 1930s. City of Sydney

Aboriginal Australians from La Perouse at the Sydney Sports Ground, New South Wales, 1936, NLA

Aborigines day of mourning, Sydney, NSW, 26 January 1938, State Library of New South Wales

Douglas Grant, draughtsman and soldier, with his ornamental pond and Harbour Bridge, Callan Park, between 1932-1940 / photographer Sam Hood. Douglas Grant was orphaned in a tribal battle or some say, in punitive action. He had a good education and became a clever draughtsman. After working at Mort's dock he enlisted twice, because of bureaucratic rules for Aboriginal Australians and joined the 13th Battalion. He was taken prisoner at Bullecourt. He worked in several locations when he returned until the time of this photograph, when he was a clerk at Callan Park Hospital. He built the pond and bridge shown here as a war memorial to his fallen comrades. A popular member of his battalion, Grant had also impressed his German captors as a man of superior intellect; to his fellow prisoners he was aggressively Australian. His attainments included a wide knowledge of Shakespeare and poetry and considerable skill as an artist and bagpipe-player. He was an exceptional man.

1940s

March of the Second AIF through Sydney, NSW, Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954), Friday 5 January 1940

PROUD of being a soldier. Private J. T. Patten', president of the Aborigines' Progress Association, who has joined the 2nd A.I.F., photographed in the Domain yesterday with his wife.Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1931 - 1954), Monday 8 January 1940

Mid 1940s George Street, Broadway, NSW, showing the Australian Hotel which was constructed in 1937 and is still standing to this day. (City of Sydney Archives)

George Street, Sydney, NSW, 1940s

Maintenance worker Stan Giddings painting the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Sydney, NSW, Australia. 18 September 1945. Photographed by Alec Iverson

8 May 1945, when news of Germany's surrender reached Sydney, within a few minutes the air was filled with fluttering paper falling on Martin Place, Castlereagh and Pitt Streets, Sydney, NSW.

HIRE CAR DRIVER. Mrs. D. Calderwood has been driving hire cars for King's Cross firm for two years. Drives 400 miles a week, longest trip was 500 miles to Cobar. Husband, who drives taxi, says she's Sydney's best woman-driver. Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1931 - 1954), Thursday 31 January 1946

1950s

Aboriginal Becomes Tram Girl THE pretty 19 year old girl, Joan Byard pictured below, last Wednesday fulfilled her ambition by becoming the first aboriginal conductress on Sydney trams. Sunday Herald (Sydney, NSW : 1949 - 1953), Sunday 29 January 1950

GREEK WAR HERO MEETS SYDNEY MAN HE RESCUED. A Greek hero and a Sydney ex-serviceman whom he harbored for five months during the war, met and parted today after seeing each other for the first time for 10 years. Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 - 1954), Monday 16 April 1951

R1 car in Liverpool Street, Sydney, NSW, c.1950s

Queen Elizabeth arrives at the Cenotaph, Sydney, during the Royal Visit, 1954 / photographer Jack Hickson, State Library of New South Wales

Remembering Sydney's Trams - Elizabeth Street near St James Railway Station, Sydney, NSW, about 1958 John Cowper

From Missenden Road along King Street, Newtown toward Erskineville Road, during the early 1950s. City of Sydney Archives

Easter Parade, George Street Sydney, NSW, 1957, Sydney City

1960s

Sydney traffic, NSW, c.1960 (4463463511).jpg - Wikimedia Commons

Title: Road traffic to York St. View to Lottery Office, Sydney, NSW, Dated: 1 Nov 1961

Speakers' Corner, Domain, Sydney [picture] / Raymond de Berquelle, Created/Published 1964-1970, Speakers' Corner was established in the eastern end of The Domain near the Art Gallery of NSW in 1878. No copyright

Queen Elizabeth II, and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at the Sydney Showground, NSW, during their 1963 royal tour of Australia. SLNSW

Old Sydney William St, NSW, 1968, Alistair Paterson

Sydney, NSW, 1968, wilford peloquin

1970s

Australia Square Sydney, NSW, 1970, wilford peloquin

Construction of the Sydney Opera House, Sydney, N.S.W. - circa 1970, Aussie~mobs

File:70-673, Sydney, NSW, 1970.- Wikimedia Commons

Sydney, NSW, 1971

Sydney, NSW, Sept 1976, wilford peloquin

175 Sydney 433 to Balmain at Circular Quay, Sydney, NSW, Aug 1976, wilford peloquin

1980s

Sydney, NSW, Feb, 1980. wilford peloquin

Sydney, NSW, 1980, Nick

Lunch time protests, Sydney, NSW, 1981, pszz

Elizabeth Street, Sydney, NSW, 1982, pszz

Sydney Harbour, Australia's Bicentenary celebrations in 1988, NSW, A6135, K4/2/88/6

1990s

Traffic on Broadway near City Road Glebe, 1990s, Sydney, NSW, City of Sydney Archives.

The Sydney Monorail in 1993, NSW, (originally TNT Harbourlink and later Metro Monorail) was a single-loop monorailin Sydney, Australia, that connected Darling Harbour, Chinatown and the Sydney central business and shopping districts. It opened in July 1988 and closed in June 2013

2000s

Sydney Monorail train on Pyrmont Bridge, NSW, 2009, https://www.panoramio.com/photo/20298345

China Town, Sydney, NSW, 2009, Barendpt

Circular Quay Sydney, NSW, Australia, 2011, Bernard Spragg. NZ

Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, Sydney, NSW, 2012

Cockle Bay, Sydney, NSw, is a small bay in inner-city Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the western edge of the Sydney central business district, 2015.