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CHANGING PLACES
CHANGING PLACES
For many decades following
European settlement in Sydney,
Pyrmont remained undeveloped
and isolated. Its terrain was rocky
and access was difficult until the
swamps at the head of Cockle
Bay were drained and the first
Pyrmont Bridge opened in 1858.
Even then development was slow,
especially on the western side of
the peninsular sloping down to
Blackwattle Bay which remained
largely unpopulated for several
more decades, aside from some
boat building works on Elizabeth
Bay, and later tin smelters at the
end of Chowne Street. The City
Iron Works were built in Abattoir
Road, described in 1870 as ‘rude
looking buildings, all exceedingly
smoke grimed’. Eventually large
quarries lined Abattoir Road
(Bank Street) which led on to
the slaughter yards on Glebe
Island. These sometimes stank, the
smelters were filthy, the quarries
raised the dust. This was the heart
of industrial activity for Sydney.
For this reason it was Chowne’s
land on Johnson’s Bay that the
CSR acquired in 1875 for their
sugar refinery. The site offered a
deep water frontage and isolation
away from prying eyes and water
rats. The original landholdings
stretched from Harris Street west
to Jones Street and south to
Bowman Street. Over time the
plant expanded and by the mid
1890s the company owned about
two hectares of land. By 1957 it
owned 12 hectares.
To the original 1879 refinery
was added a spirit bond, a
cooperage, a distillery which
produced industrial rum from
molasses, and a bone char
factory for making charcoal,
used in the refining process.
The refined products were
distributed by McCafferys
cartage company, which added
extensive stables for its large team
of Clydsdale horses, and later
accommodation for
motorised lorries.
By the 1930s the company was
expanding into building products,
most famously Caneite, on land
purchased on the foreshore as
far as the Glebe Island Bridge.
From as early as the 1880s the
company was buying up houses
for demolition, and along with
other industries in Pyrmont that
were doing the same, contributed
to the steady decline of the local
population. Eventually the whole
of the end of the peninsular was
privatised through acquisition of
streets from the City Council. The
Town Clerk observed of the sale
of several streets in 1905 that the
property was ‘of an inferior class,
and of very small value from a
rateable point of view.’
By around 1900 population was
falling across the whole of the
peninsular as industry soaked up
land, and many who could afford
it chose to move to cleaner and
greener suburbs. By the 1960s
industries were also closing their
doors and moving elsewhere,
leaving behind empty factories
and polluted sites. As the local
population kept shrinking those
who stayed became increasingly
uneasy as they witnessed the
decimation of their community.
Schools closed, amenities shrank.
They read in the newspapers that
the place they lived in was a slum,
ripe for bulldozing.
Pyrmont bathers, circa 1900s / Courtesy of Joan O-Regan
Doors were always open: Recollections of Pyrmont & Ultimo
City West Development Corporation and Margaret Park
