historical walking tours renewal ultimo Historical Walking Tour
Front Cover Image: Tram passing Sydney Technical College, 1950s (Photograph: City of Sydney Archives) ultimo
Then the landscape was remade by sandstone ntil 1850, Ultimo was semi-rural, quarrying on Ultimo’s western edge and by the with cornfields and cow paddocks. construction of a railway and goods yard on its Members of the Gadigal people still eastern shoreline. The suburb became crowded harvested cockles on its foreshores. with factories, woolstores and workers’ housing.
Today it has a new identity as a cultural precinct as industrial sites are adapted for entertainment and education. This tour of Ultimo starts in greyness and ends in the technicolour of Darling Harbour.
Sydney’s Please allow 1½ – 2 hours for this tour. why ultimo? history Begin the walk at The story of Ultimo began with a court case is all around us. Railway Square outside the and a joke. In the 1800s, Governor King was Our walking tours will lead you Marcus Clark Building (1). engaged in a power struggle with officers on a journey of discovery from of the NSW Corps. Surgeon John Harris early Aboriginal life through to of the Corps supported him, and became contemporary Sydney. so unpopular with his colleagues that he was court-martialled in 1803. But Harris escaped conviction because the charge stated he had committed an offence on the “19th ultimo” (last month) instead of “19th instant” (this month). When Governor King rewarded Harris with land grants, he Clover Moore MP celebrated the technicality by calling his Lord Mayor of Sydney estate Ultimo. It covered the whole of the modern suburb. Darling Harbour Goods Yards, c1900 (Photograph: Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW)
Historical Walking Tours — Renewal / 01. Dawes Point Walsh Bay Tar–ra
Bennelong Point Dubbagullee TOWNS PL
HICKSON RD
LOWER FORT ST HICKSON RD HICKSON WINDMILL ST Sydney Cove Warrane ARGYLE ST
Observatory Hill
CUMBERLAND ST
ALFRED ST
KENT ST KENT Circular Quay Farm Cove
HARRINGTON ST REIBY PL Wahganmuggalee HICKSON RD HICKSON
GEORGE ST
YOUNG ST
LOFTUS ST PHILLIP ST
PITT ST Darling Harbour Tumbalong GROSVENOR ST DALLEY ST Royal BRIDGE ST Botanic Gardens
PIRRAMA RD
BENT ST Johnstons Bay BOND ST SPRING ST Woolloomooloo Bay MARGARET ST CURTIN PL DARLING ISLAND RD PHILLIP LANE O’CONNELL ST MACQUARIE ST BLIGH ST Wynyard HUNTER ST
ERSKINE ST WYLDE ST CARRINGTON ST
ASH ST HARVEY ST LN YORK
PIRRAMA RD MARTIN PL COWPER WHARFST RDWY NEOT AVE BOWMAN ST John St Square Star Martin Place MCDONALD LN
JOHN ST City
PITT ST YORK ST YORK TE AS R MOUNT ST Pyrmont CHALLIS AVE KING ST
M D Elizabeth Bay Y R
JONES ST Bay R I
R V E ROCKWALL LN A DISTRIBUTOR WESTERN The Domain U Q
M CASTLEREAGH ST ELIZABETH ST ROCKWALL CRES 4 B I W HARRIS ST ART GALLERY RD L E UNION ST L S Y TE AR R MILLER ST GEORGE ST N 29 O D
EDWARD ST ST CLARENCE
D PYRMONT BRIDGE I N
A T I ONSLOW PL S V H MANNING ST S MACLEAY ST E
T BOURKE ST N
R L U A
E C
IB O St James A
U Sydney MARKET ST VICTORIA ST W T O PYRMONT ST Rozelle Bay FishR Market A R V O Beare Park F E A R Cockle Bay BROUGHAM STREET MCELHONE STREET N E GREENKNOWE AVE D DOWLING STREET HUGHES ST U E E W PALMER ST GLEBE POINT RD A Y
TUSCULUM ST ELIZABETH BAY ROAD
MURRAY ST CROWN ST ORWELL ST PYRMONT BRIDGE RD Hyde Park CATHEDRAL ST FORBES ST Convention DRUITT ST 28 Rushcutters Bay PARK ST COLLEGE ST RILEY ST
EARL ST SUSSEX ST SUSSEX GRIFFIN PL Blackwattle Bay ALLEN ST
EGLINTON RD WILLIAM ST
PITT ST
ALEXANDRA ST KENT Jubilee COOK ST Town Hall Wentworth Park ALLEN ST BATHURST ST Park Darling WARD AVE ROSLYN GARDENS WILLIAM ST Harbour AVE RD DARLINGHURSTKings Cross RD 26 WILMOT ST ROSLYN ST
YURONG ST RILEY ST TAYLOR ST 27 CENTRAL ST FARRELL AVE FORSYTH ST ALBION PL STANLEY ST VICTORIA RD BURTON ST FIG ST FRANCIS ST ELIZABETH ST KINGS CROSS RD 20 LIVERPOOL ST 21
CASTLEREAGH ST MAXWELL ROAD WATTLE ST CRAIGEND ST BELLEVUE ST CLAPTON PL NEW SOUTH HEAD RD BRIDGE RD WENTWORTH PARK RD MANSFIELD ST DARGHAN ST 17 25 Museum SEALE ST BOURKE ST
FERRY RD HARBOUR ST BAYVIEW ST 19 DARLING ST QUARRY ST Exhibition LOMBARD ST VICTORIA ST ARCADIA RD NIMROD ST 22 OXFORD ST BELL ST GLEBE POINT RD JONES ST SURREY STREET 18 PIER ST PIER WOMERAH AVENUE 16 LE ST LIVERPOOL ST LITT GOULBURN ST 23 24 RILEY ST POPLAR TOXTETH RD COLBOURNE AVE NITHSDALE ST LYNDHURST ST MCLACHLAN AVE Paddy’s PALMER ST BARCOM AVE GOTTENHAM ST Wentworth 15 BRISBANE ST NIELD AVE HACKETT ST CROWN ST BULWARA RD Markets WAINE ST
TALFOURD ST WENTWORTH ST BURTON ST SUSSEX ST SUSSEX BOYCE ST Park ST DIXON WILLIAM HENRY ST
MARLBOROUGH GEORGE ST DARLING DR DARLING CAMPBELL ST ST JOHNS RD WIGRAM RD HAY ST GOULBURN ST PHILLIP ST 14 WENTWORTH AVE BOUNDARY ST HAY ST FORBES ST MINOGUEHarold CRES Park GLENMORE RD BROUGHTON ST Capitol GLENMORE RD HEREFORD ST Square Taylor VICTORIA ST
MACARTHUR ST ST QUAY 13 Square MACDONALS ST FOSTER ST BARLOWPARKER ST ST CAMPBELL ST
COMMONWEALTHST
GLEBE ST ST SMITH JAROCIN AVE DARLINGHURST RD
07 THOMAS ST RESERVOIR ST BAY ST BAY
MARY ANN06 ST 08 12 Belmore BROWN ST 05 ULTIMO RD ST OCEAN COWPER ST JONES ST TAYLOR ST MITCHELLCAMPBELL ST ST VALENTINE ST EDDY AVE ST JOHNS RD Park BRIDGE RD WESTMORELAND ST DERWENT ST 09 ANN ST GURNER ST CASCADE ST MT VERNON ST HARRIS ST ROSS ST LODGE ST GLEBE POINT RD Central 04 PITT ST
ELIZABETH ST GLENMORE RD 01 FOREST ST THOMAS ST WATTLE ST
10 RILEY ST FLINDERS ST FLINDERS
11 ST CHISHOLM KEY LEGEND MARY ST NAPIER ST
CATHERINE ST 03 Central Station ALBION ST Train BOURKE ST
02 FITZROY ST Light Rail GEORGE ST OXFORD ST BELMORE ST BROADWAY KIPPAX ST Historical Walking Tours — Renewal / 02. BELLEVUE ST ALBION AVE PADDINGTON ST PARRAMATTA RD CORBEN ST ARUNDEL ST SOUTH DOWLING ST KNOX ST FOVEAUX ST ORMOND ST GRAFTON ST CHURCH ST NICHOLS ST
LEE ST RANDLE ST GREENS RD COOPER ST HUTCHINSON WATERLOO ST
Sydney University Victoria DEVONSHIRE ST SELWYN ST WILLIAM ST HOLT ST HOLT Park OCONNOR ST ST KENSINGTON RENNY ST BENNETT ST JOSEPHSON ST WELLINGTON LACEY ST
MYRTLE STROSE ST REGENT ST ARTHUR ST PROSPECT ST SHEPHERD ST QUEEN ST MARSHALL ST CROWN ST
PINE ST CHALMERS ST MOORE PARK RD PHELPS ST GORDON ST ELIZABETH ST
BUCKLAND ST MEAGHER ST RAINFORD ST OATLEY RD
ARTHUR ST ABERCROMBIE ST ABERCROMBIE CLEVELAND ST DANGAR PL BUCKINGHAM ST DAVIES ST REGENT ST
BALFOUR ST VINE ST BLACKWATTLE CLISDELL ST HUDSON ST CITY RD CLEVELAND ST VINE ST SHEPHERDBOUNDARY ST ST MAZE CRES JAMES ST EDWARD ST ABERCROMBIE ST REGENT ST JAMES ST CALDER RD HUGO ST ANZAC PDE OXFORD ST
IVY LN IVY CAROLINE ST LEWIS ST
IVY ST IVY MISSENDEN RD MISSENDEN
LAWSON ST RENWICK ST LANDER ST GEORGE ST CARILLON AVE WILLIAM ST PITT ST CLEVELAND ST DARLINGTON RD EVELEIGH ST LAWSON SQ Moore Park WELLS ST COOK RD
BURNETT
ELIZABETH ST
Redfern AVE DRIVER REDFERN ST
KING ST GREAT BUCKINGHAM ST
CODRINGTON ST CODRINGTON CLEVELAND ST LANG RD ABERCROMBIE ST TURNER ST BOURKE ST
GIBBONS ST MARGARET WILSON ST ROSEHILL ST ALBERT ST
CORNWALLIS ST
COPE ST
DOUGLAS ST REGENT ST PHILLIP ST
CHALMERS ST LANG RD LOCOMOTIVE ST BAPTIST ST
CENTRAL AVE BURREN ST BURREN RAGLAN ST Macdonaldtown HENDERSON RD
ERSKINVILLE RD SOUTH DOWLING ST Centennial Park
BOTANY RD BOTANY PITT ST PITT
BEAUMONT ST
ST ST GEORGE
ALBERT WALKER ST
WYNDHAM ST WYNDHAM
GARDEN ST GARDEN WELLINGTON ST
GERARD ST GERARD
KINGSCLEAR RD KINGSCLEAR REEVE ST
NEWTON ST NEWTON ALEXANDER ST ALEXANDER
CHARLES ST CHARLES RAILWAY PDE ST PHILLIPS KELLICK ST
ALLEN AVE PARK ST PARK ST
CLARA ST CLARA RENWICK
COPE ST COPE ROBERTSON RD JENNINGS ST ST JOHN ST
SWANSON DIBBS ST LACHLAN ST Erskinville SUTTOR ST COPELAND ST PARK RD PARK POWER AVE DACEY AVE
FOX AVE MCEVOY ST
ELIZABETH ST
ROCHFORD ST FOUNTAIN ST ST PITT
MALCOLM ST ST BRENNAN POWELL ST
GEORGE ST
BRIDGE ST LOVERIDGE
VICTORIA ST ASHMORE ST ST GEORGE ELLIOT AVE ALISON RD
ASHMORE ST ALLEN ST BELMONT ST
MITCHELL RDHARLEY ST LAWRENCE ST AVE STOKES O’DEA AVE O’DEA AVE ANZAC PDE
MACDONALD ST MCCAULEY ST MCCAULEY
MCEVOY ST BOWDEN ST MANDIBLE ST BOURKE ST
FLORA ST TODMAN AVE ELIZABETH ST
EVE ST
LAWRENCE ST
COULSON ST BELMONT ST EUSTON LANE
BOURKE RD
CONCORD ST
HUNTLEY ST JOYNTON AVE ALISON RD BOTANY RD BOTANY MADDOX ST SYDNEY PARK RD
St Peters EUSTON ROAD
DONCASTER AVE
O’RIORDAN ST
KING ST
HUNTLEY ST ANZAC PDE
TODMAN AVE
BURROWS RD
Sydney Park EPSOM RD LENHALT ST Royal Randwick Racecourse
COLLINS ST LINK RD
EPSOM RD PRINCES HWY ALISON RD
CAMPBELL RD DALMENY AVE
EUSTON ROAD
SOUTH DOWLING ST BOURKE RD
ROTHSCHILD AVE MORELY AVE
ROSEBERRY AVE
BURROWS RD
DALMENY AVE
HARCOURT PDE
GARDENERS RD PDE ANZAC
BOTANY RD O’RIORDAN ST RICKETTY ST
KENT RD
GARDENERS RD DALMENY AVE DALMENY RENEWAL ULTIMO Historical Walking Tour
01 Former Marcus Clark Building
When the Marcus Clark department store was completed in 1928, it overlooked a lively retail and entertainment district. But when the underground railway was built, the centre of gravity for shoppers shifted away from here. After the war, customers preferred the new suburban shopping centres and cinemas, so education became the real growth industry in this area. The state government bought the store in 1966 and it is now part of the Technical and Further Education (TAFE) system.
Ultimo Boy’s High science class, 1911 (Photograph: Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW)
Turn right at Mary Ann Street and walk towards Harris Street.
Railway Square 05 technical education in ultimo (Photograph: City of Sydney Archives) to Today the buildings on Mary Ann Street are part of Continue along Broadway, past the tower building belonging to TAFE’s Ultimo College. The original Sydney Technical the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) (2). Turn right 07 College (06) opened in 1892, a brave investment for a into Jones Street . government in the middle of an economic depression. The “Federation Romanesque” College building — designed by W E Kemp and decorated with carvings of 02 03 University of Australian animals by W P Macintosh—was a handsome Technology, Sydney (UTS) contrast to nearby factories and houses. But it also represented opportunity for thousands of students who attended evening classes in subjects including The expansion of UTS (formerly NSW Institute of Agriculture, Engineering and Commerce. Technology) is more evidence of Ultimo’s education The building labelled “Commercial High School” revolution. A large city campus now clusters around the (05) was intended to be co-educational but it only 1970s tower building (2). Among the sites taken over ever housed Sydney Boy’s High from 1892–1928. The by UTS is the former headquarters of John Fairfax (3), headmistress of the Girl’s High School refused to bring where journalists and printers produced the Sydney her charges to grimy industrial Ultimo, so the Technical Morning Herald and other newspapers until 1995. College occupied their space instead, which was rebuilt Incidentally, both the UTS tower and the Fairfax building as Turner Hall (07) in 1910–11. (now UTS 10) have featured in polls of Sydney’s least- loved landmarks! The Technical College expanded towards Thomas, George and Wattle Streets, encircling Ultimo House which was demolished in the 1930s. The grounds of Continue along Jones Street towards Mary Ann Street. John Harris’s mansion are the “sacred site” of technical education in NSW, Sydney Technical High School held classes in Ultimo House from 1911–24, while UTS 04 Ultimo House and the University of NSW both began as units of the Technical College.
As you follow Jones Street — which cuts through the campus of TAFE’s Ultimo College — you are walking in what were once the grounds of John Harris’ Ultimo House. The house was demolished by 1933 (site at 4). But when it was built c1805, and especially after Francis Greenway remodelled it in the 1810s, Ultimo House was a grand mansion. Harris even had his own deer park here! Industrialisation had already changed the character of the area by 1890, when the colonial government bought land here for a technical college. Technical College and Museum, 1894 (Photograph: Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW) Turn right along Harris Street towards Thomas Street.
Historical Walking Tours — Renewal / 03. RENEWAL ULTIMO Historical Walking Tour
08 technological museum 12 The Benevolent Asylum
The Technological Museum (later the Museum of Hardship to hospitality. The Applied Arts and Sciences) opened in 1893. The Benevolent Asylum (12) exhibits, ranging from musical instruments to model opened in 1904, took in locomotives, drew generations of families to Ultimo destitute women and children on Sunday afternoons. But the collection outgrew the until the 1920s, and provided 1893 building, and was inherited by the Powerhouse handouts to struggling Museum. Today, the building is part of the Sydney families for much longer. Its Institute of TAFE and is used for functions. forbidding façade has been incorporated into a hotel. Nearby, remnants of Ultimo’s entertainment tradition have been replaced by apartments. “Her Majesty’s Theatre” was near the Thomas Street (Photograph: Adrian Hall, City of corner. It opened as The Sydney Archives) Empire in 1927, was later remodelled and renamed as Her Majesty’s, rebuilt after a 1970 fire and closed in 2001.
Retrace your steps along Quay Street past the Ultimo Road intersection.
13 UTS Haymarket Campus A favourite exhibit, now in Powerhouse Museum (Photograph: State Library of NSW)
In the 1900s the City Council began building new produce markets on reclaimed mudflats at the head 09 ABC Ultimo Centre of Darling Harbour, close to the railway and wharves. After the markets moved out of the city in 1975, UTS adapted the Fruit Market, which dates from 1911. The redevelopment has retained its distinctive bell The radio and television studios of the ABC’s Ultimo tower, as well as the market façade and signage Centre continue a local tradition of entertainment. In the along Quay Street. Appropriately, it is home to the 1870s southern Ultimo was scattered with small dairies Faculty of Business. and the paddocks were regularly used for shows. At night, flares made of greased cotton waste on sticks lit up the tightrope walkers and strongmen hefting blocks of local sandstone.
From the corner of Harris and Thomas Streets, look right towards Broadway.
10 11 Cyclorama and Glaciarium
There were other landmarks of popular culture in this area. The site of the Cyclorama, which opened in 1889, lies beneath the UTS buildings on Harris Street. It presented a circular painted panorama of the Battle of Gettysburg, which sounds static but was enlivened by the use of mirrors, magnifiers and sound effects. Sydney writer Frank Clune remembered that, as a child, he was completely carried away by the spectacle. The Cyclorama survived the arrival of moving pictures but closed in 1906. The site was then used for an ice rink, the Glaciarium, run by the nearby Sydney Cold Stores Ltd (11). The “Glacie” attracted skaters from all over Sydney until the run-down facility was closed in the 1950s. Fruit Market under construction, 1911 Retrace your steps along Harris Street, turning right down (Photograph: City of Sydney Archives) Ultimo Road as far as Quay Street. Turn right again towards the corner of Quay and Thomas Streets.
Historical Walking Tours — Renewal / 04. RENEWAL ULTIMO Historical Walking Tour
14 market city 16 Ultimo Community Centre
Market City rises from the walls of Municipal Markets 1 This multi-purpose centre was designed by Lawrence and 2, built in 1909 –10. Along with shops and cinemas, Nield to minimise traffic noise from Harris Street and it houses the popular Paddy’s Market. Wherever produce maximise sun on the large internal courtyard. Along with markets were established in Sydney, they attracted a sports hall, craft room and childcare centre, it houses second-hand dealers and street performers: by the 1870s the Ultimo Library and Jessie Street National Women’s the name “Paddys” was attached to these “fringe” market Library. Named in honour of feminist and peace activist, fairs. When Markets 1 and 2 opened, Paddy’s came too Jessie Street, this specialist library collects archival and and operated in the area for most of the 20th century. printed material by and about Australian women.
From the end of Quay Street, cross to the former Paddy’s Market Walk up William Henry Street, turning right at Bulwara Road Monorail station. At the top of the steps take the left-hand to Quarry Street. walkway up to the Powerhouse Museum (15) on Harris Street.
17 Uniting Church and Harris Centre 15 Powerhouse Museum
The church and adjoining manse date from the The Ultimo Power House, built in 1899, produced 1880s and reflect the influence of the Harris family. electricity for Sydney’s trams (and choking clouds of Descendants of Surgeon John Harris still owned coal dust over Ultimo). When the trams stopped in 1961, large portions of Ultimo and lived there in the 19th the building was redundant until it was redesigned century. The church was built on land donated by as the Powerhouse Museum, which opened in 1988. John Harris (a Mayor of Sydney and great-nephew This successful adaptation of an industrial building is of the first John), while an 1897 bequest from Australia’s most popular museum, with a collection of George Harris helped fund the Harris Centre, which over 385,000 objects covering science, technology, the Uniting Church runs in the manse. industry and transport, but also music, decorative arts and social history.
Cross Harris Street to the corner of William Henry Street.
Harris Centre with the spire of Ultimo Uniting Church in the distance (Photograph: Kate Fisher) Turn left down Quarry Street to Jones Street corner. At this point you may wish to take the optional detour (see below) or, from Jones Street corner, retrace your steps along Quarry Street towards Harris Street.
Detour: cathedrals of commerce For the best view of the woolstores, walk down Quarry Street to Wattle Street. A legendary two-up game operated in the park at the bottom of this street. Bear in mind that Ultimo Power Station Ultimo children also used to stage furious billycart races (Photograph: City of Sydney Archives) on the hill and it is quite a steep climb back to the Jones Street level.
Historical Walking Tours — Renewal / 05. RENEWAL ULTIMO Historical Walking Tour
18 Ultimo Quarries 22 Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre to Sandstone from the Ultimo-Pyrmont peninsula built many of Sydney’s public buildings and has enriched its cultural 20 heritage. This escarpment was quarried to build Sydney Ultimo’s newest landmark is built on the site of another University in the 1850s and stone was taken from the woolstore which burned down in 1992. The aquatic Quarry Street area for the first stage of the General Post centre, named after Olympic swimming champion Office. As quarrymasters such as the Saunders family Ian Thorpe, contains pools, sauna, steam room and moved further north into Pyrmont, new uses were found gymnasium. It opened in 2007 to cater for the fast- for Ultimo’s abandoned sites. Ultimo Public School growing population of the inner city. With its striking (18) is tucked into one disused quarry and gives some wave-shaped roof, the centre was the last public idea of the scale of operations. Left empty, the quarries building designed by the late Harry Seidler. could be dangerous. In the 1880s putrefying rubbish piled up in an old excavation just north of Quarry Street, giving off gases that caught fire when a nearby workman boiled his billy. They burned for some time. Eventually massive woolstores would occupy many of the worked- out quarries. Commonwealth Wool and Produce No. 1 (19) and Winchcombe Carson Woolstore (20) were built against the scarred cliffs at the turn of the 20th century. They used the terrain to develop a system of “gravity baling”. Heavy loads of wool came in at the Jones Street level and were moved easily through the store’s display, examination and auction floors using chutes, to emerge at Wattle Street.
Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre (Photograph: City of Sydney Archives)
Turn left at William Henry Street, take the left-side pavement over the Darling Harbour rail line (incorporated in today’s light rail system). Look back for the best view of the Powerhouse Museum. Then follow the walkway under the flyover to arrive at the edge of Darling Harbour.
Darling Harbour Before World War II, Darling Harbour rail yard was a clearing house for goods moving to, from and around Australia. It linked into the railway network at nearby Central Station, and connected producers to the wharves where their wool, wheat or frozen meat was shipped. With the post-war growth of road freight and container terminals, the Darling Harbour rail system lost its function. Ultimo’s warehouses and woolstores were gradually emptied. The goods yard was virtually derelict in 1984, when the state government began to redevelop Darling Harbour as a tourist-recreation-cultural park. This urban playground begins under the freeways, stretching University of Sydney up to Pyrmont Bridge and beyond. (Photograph: Gary Deirmendjian collection, City of Sydney Archives)
From the Corner of Jones and Quarry Streets rejoin the main route.
21 92 Quarry Street
This cottage, dating from the 1860s, is a rare reminder that sandstone was not only exported to The new Darling Harbour build Sydney’s monuments, but was used to house (Photograph: City of Sydney Archives) the workers who quarried it. Allow at least half an hour to explore Darling Harbour as far as the Pyrmont Bridge (29). It is well supplied with bars and Cross Harris Street and turn right. cafes for rest and refreshment.
Historical Walking Tours — Renewal / 05. RENEWAL ULTIMO Historical Walking Tour
23 Hydraulic Pumphouse 26 Tumbalong Park
The pumping station was built in 1890, in those Entertainers are often found around Tumbalong Park, pre-electric days when wharf cranes, wool presses not far from the Ultimo paddocks where jugglers and and heavy bank doors were powered by hydraulic strongmen performed in the 19th century. pressure. As late as the 1970s, lifts and doors in some city buildings were still using this system. The former pumping station is now a restaurant and bar. 27 28 Exhibition Centre and Convention Centre
24 entertainment centre The complex comprising the Exhibition and Convention Centres was designed by Philip Cox and opened in 1988. The mast and cable construction of the Exhibition The large flexible arena can stage everything from Centre reflects its maritime environment. During the opera to basketball to Disney on Ice. Its construction 2000 Sydney Olympics the complex was used for in the early 1980s uncovered fragments of Darling wrestling, boxing, judo and fencing events. Harbour’s great iron wharf (1874). This engineering marvel — running from Liverpool Street around the Darling Harbour (Photograph: City of Sydney) head of the harbour and along the Ultimo shoreline — was the making of the “old” Darling Harbour. It encouraged the expansion of the goods yard, which would finally swallow the wharf itself in the 1920s.
25 chinese garden
The garden celebrates the sister state relationship of Guandong province and NSW. It also reflects long- standing Chinese connections to the markets in Ultimo and Haymarket, where communities grew up around Chinese merchants. Older residents of Ultimo remember pak-a-pu lotteries and the Chinese fish and chip shop that stayed open all hours. The gardens are built on another significant industrial site. In the 1870s, Thomas Mort built a freezing depot here for his Fresh Food and Ice Company, using techniques pioneered by E D Nicolle. These Australian innovations in 29 Pyrmont Bridge refrigeration revolutionised the country’s export trade as well as its eating habits. The new technology also changed the face of Ultimo: the goods yard was soon surrounded by big commercial dairies, cold stores The Pyrmont Bridge opened in 1902, replacing a (and a skating rink!). decrepit wooden construction built in 1857–58. The new timber truss bridge was a triumph of modernity: it had a steel opening span, which was one of the first to be driven by electricity from the Ultimo Powerhouse. The span is still operating smoothly and the bridge has been recognised as a National Engineering Landmark. It is one element of the working harbour that has survived into the post-industrial present, carrying pedestrians into the tourist precinct.
This is end of your Ultimo tour. It has presented a sample of Darling Harbour attractions: to visit sites north of the Pyrmont Bridge try the City of Sydney Historical Walking Tour called “Port”. To leave Darling Harbour, take the light rail to Central Station. Or simply cross the Pyrmont Bridge and walk up Market Street to the city.
Historical Walking Tours — Renewal / 06. historical walking tours
Discover more of historic Sydney with the other walking tour brochures in this series.
More information can be found at the City’s website: www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/history or call the City of Sydney on 9265 9333 We welcome your feedback: [email protected]
This story is one of many layers www.dictionaryofsydney.org
Think before you bin this guide After reading, pass it on to someone else who might find it useful or recycle it.
This brochure was prepared by the History Program at the City of Sydney. 2nd edition, September 2013. HWT 10