The Convict Town to Port City


Long Cove to Cockle Bay, 1788–1813

While early European settlement was focused on Sydney Cove, the first deputy surveyor-general of New South Wales, Charles Grimes, completed a Plan of Sydney in 1800 that accurately depicts the eastern shoreline of Darling Harbour. Early European settlers originally called the area Long Cove, but it became known as Cockle Bay for the shell middens that marked it.

Poorly fired bricks and a lack of lime for mortar hampered early building in the colony. The massive middens of shellfish shells in Cockle Bay were to provide the perfect source for lime. From the early 1800s the settlers collected the shells and burnt them in kilns built on the current site of Wharves 9 and 10, producing shell-lime, which became the main ingredient in the mortar for Sydney’s brick and stone buildings.

From such humble beginnings, the development of the area soon gathered pace. The first wharves were constructed in the early 1800s and in 1813, the first steam-driven factory was established where the Sydney Entertainment Centre now stands. This set the precedent for industrial development in Sydney.

Maritime and industrial development, 1813–1900s
Cockle Bay, with its deep water, sheltered harbour and proximity to the business district became an integral part of Sydney’s burgeoning industrial strength.

The Market Street Wharf, built in the 1820s is the only remaining wharf from this era and is where Sydney Aquarium now stands. The Market Street Wharf berthed vessels bringing fresh produce from Parramatta for the Sydney Markets, which were located where the Queen Victoria Building stands today.

In 1861, the world’s first freezing works were built by Thomas Mort after the process was developed by ED Nicolle. Thomas Mort’s Fresh Food & Ice Company was established on the site of today’s Chinese Garden of Friendship The company shipped its first successful cargo of frozen meat to London in 1877.

By 1900 dozens of wharves had been built at Darling Harbour. In 1874, the world’s first full iron wharf was built where Tumbalong Park now stands. During the 1980s, construction works for Darling Harbour uncovered a section of this wharf, it was reburied and has been left in situ. The Iron Wharf was considered one of the great engineering feats at the time of its construction.

The Pyrmont Bridge opened in 1902, replacing a smaller bridge built in 1857, to maintain a vital link between the CBD, Pyrmont and Glebe. The new bridge was a swing span bridge powered by electricity, supplied from the nearby Ultimo Powerhouse and the span could swing open and shut in 45 seconds. It is the oldest electrically powered swing span bridge in the world still operating.

In 1900, the NSW Government resumed Darling Harbour as it did The Rocks and the area still thrived as coastal steamers plied their trade along Australia’s coast and across the Pacific. 

This period of economic success decreased significantly in the 1950s, when road and rail transport took much of the trade away from shipping.

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