Dawes Point, New South Wales

Dawes Point Sydney, New South Wales
Sydney Harbour Bridge, viewed from Observatory Hill
Population	544 (2011 census)[1]
• Density	5,400/km2 (14,000/sq mi)
Postcode(s)	2000
Area	0.1 km2 (0.0 sq mi)
Location	1 km (1 mi) north of Sydney CBD
LGA(s)	City of Sydney
Parish	St. Philip
State electorate(s)	Sydney
Federal Division(s)	Sydney
Suburbs around Dawes Point: Port Jackson Kirribilli Port Jackson Port Jackson Dawes Point Port Jackson Millers Point The Rocks Sydney Cove

Dawes Point is a suburb of the City of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Dawes Point is located on the north-western edge of the Sydney central business district, at the southern end of Sydney Harbour Bridge, adjacent to The Rocks. Sections of Dawes Point have been included as part of The Rocks area in the past and some residents and businesses still use it in their address.

History

The area was originally known by the Aboriginal names of Tar-ra and Tullagalla. This was later changed to Point Maskelyne in honour of Reverend Dr Nevil Maskelyne, British Astronomer Royal. He sent out the first astronomical instruments which were established at the point in the country's first observatory, by Lieutenant William Dawes (1762-1836), astronomer with the First Fleet. The point was renamed in honour of Dawes.^[2]

It was also the site of the first guns mounted in Sydney by Dawes in 1788, contained Sydney's first cemetery and later Dawes Point Battery. Walsh Bay was the site of Sydney's port facilities. The wharves were converted to apartments, theatres, restaurants, cafes and a hotel.

By the 1840s the people of Dawes Point and Millers Point were a maritime community in which rich and poor mixed more than elsewhere in Sydney. Wharf owners and traders lived and worked beside those who worked on the wharves and bond stores, as well as those who arrived and left on ships.^[3] Only two of the merchant houses, built by and for the early wharf owners, survive. One is Walker's 50-foot wide villa built around 1825 and now part of Milton Terrace at 7-9 Lower Fort Street; the other is the home and offices of Edwards and Hunter, built in 1833 above their wharves which is where the Wharf Theatre now stands.^[4]

The fortunes of Dawes Point and Millers Point fluctuated more than elsewhere in Sydney. Mostly prosperous in its early years, the area was less desirable by the 1890s, and in 1900 there was a catastrophic event that led to a complete reshaping of Millers Point.

At the beginning of the 20th century the government compulsorily acquired all private wharves, homes and commercial properties in the Rocks, Dawes Point and Millers Point. Modern and efficient wharves with dual level access were built, as well as new accommodation for workers, such as the Workers Flats of Lower Fort Street designed by Government Architect Vernon.^[5]

Most people still believe this redevelopment can be attributed entirely to an outbreak of plague in 1900, with the government acting benevolently as it demolished homes as well as wharves, and not for the last time decimated a community, while presenting their actions as ‘slum clearance’. In the 1960s and '70s the government tried again to clear the area and build high-rise offices, but this was thwarted by the Green Bans, supported community and unions. In 2016, the NSW Government is again 'relocating' the long-term community of Dawes Point, Millers Point and The Rocks, and only a handful of these residents remain, while the majority of houses and flats along Lower Fort Street and Trinity Avenue are vacant.^[6]

Culture

The Sydney Theatre and The Wharf Theatre, which are part of the Sydney Theatre Company, are located in Dawes Point.

Gallery

• 

  The Sydney Theatre and The Wharf Theatre, which are part of the Sydney Theatre Company, are located in Dawes Point

• 

  Pier One on Walsh Bay

• 

  Walsh Bay ferry wharf

• 

  Southern approach of the Sydney Harbour Bridge with Dawes Point to the right.

• 

  Terraces, Pottinger Street (c. 2007)

• 

  Terraces, Pottinger Street (c. 2007)

• 

  The Sydney Opera House seen from Dawes Point

• 

  Aerial view of Dawes point in the 1930s

References

External links

• Shirley Fitzgerald (2008). "Dawes Point". Dictionary of Sydney. Retrieved 26 September 2015.  [CC-By-SA]

Coordinates: 33°51′22″S 151°12′25″E / 33.856°S 151.207°E / -33.856; 151.207

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dawes Point, New South Wales.

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