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Dictionary of Sydney

The Dictionary of Sydney
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View of Macquarie Place 1850s

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

View of Macquarie Place 1850s

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a7123001 / SV/237]

(Mitchell Library)

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Macquarie Place

Subjects

Commercial building Obelisks Roads

Places

Macquarie Place

Structures

Macquarie Place obelisk

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State Library of New South Wales

Macquarie Place

In the early nineteenth century Macquarie Place was the administrative and business hub of Sydney. Today traces of its long history can be found in the monuments, relics and old trees which still remain.

Commercial building

Roads

Obelisks

Macquarie Place

The open space at the corner of Loftus and Bridge streets marked with an obelisk from which roads in the colony were measured. Originally the area was swampy mangrove land on the banks of the Tank Stream it has been a public meeting place since the 1790s.

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Macquarie Place obelisk

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Sandstone obelisk erected by Governor Macquarie in 1818 to mark the place from which public roads in the colony were measured. Designed by Francis Greenway and built by Edward Cureton with convict labour.