The Rocks

Suburb located north of the central business district on the western shore of Sydney Cove. Characterised by a precinct of restored nineteenth-century buildings which are a major tourist attraction, it was recognised as a separate suburb in 1993.

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Milestone

Died

Barrett, Thomas

27 Feb 1788

Name

Aboriginal

Tallawoladah

Property

Administered by

City of Sydney Council

Part of

City of Sydney local government area

Type

Suburb

Grace Karskens

2008

Called Tallawoladah by the Cadigal, The Rocks was the convicts' side of town after Europeans arrived, and kept some of its unruly, disreputable air into the twentieth century. Residents' action saved it from destruction in the 1970s, and now a tourist attraction, The Rocks miraculously escaped both high-rise and grid.

Caroline Butler-Bowden

Grace Karskens

2014

supported by

City of Sydney - Cultural Ribbon Foreshore Histories Project

Just over a century ago, a unique collection of paintings opened a window to the urban life of the Rocks and Millers Point before their major transformation. No part of Sydney had been depicted so intensively. The Old Sydney Exhibition succeeded in bringing the loss of Old Sydney to the attention of the public, and so planted the seeds of the heritage conservation movement.

Jennifer Preston

2018

Caraher Stairs was a large stairway designed by City of Sydney Engineer Edward Bell that connected Lower Fort Street in Millers Point to Princes Street North in The Rocks, demolished as a result of the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Jennifer Preston

2018

Merriman Stairs linked Argyle Street, Millers Point with Princes Street in The Rocks. They were constructed in 1859 and demolished in 1931 due to the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Jennifer Preston

2018

Playfair Stairs in The Rocks was an unusually shaped stairway, which did not fit neatly into the typical stairway typologies of the city. The stairway bent around the corner into Cambridge Street like an elbow.

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

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The Rocks

Painting Old Sydney

Caraher Stairs

Merriman Stairs

Playfair Stairs

Barrett, Thomas

City of Sydney Council

City of Sydney local government area