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Dictionary of Sydney

The Dictionary of Sydney
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McElhone Stairs 1951

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

McElhone Stairs 1951

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National Library of Australia

[PIX, 11 August 1951, p22 via Trove]

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McElhone Stairs

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McElhone Stairs

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Potts Point Woolloomooloo

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National Library of Australia

McElhone Stairs

McElhone Stairs in Woollomooloo is one of three stairways that connect Brougham Street to Victoria Street the others being Hordern Stairs and Butler Stairs). The wide variety of experiences encountered on the stairs, from the arduous nature of the climb, the vibrant and colourful users, the sexual encounters and the physical dangers have given them a special place in Sydney's artistic history.

Footpaths

Pedestrians

McElhone Stairs

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Stairway of 113 steps, known colloquially as the 'Stairs of Doom' or 'Stairs of Death', which connects the socially and financially diverse suburbs of Potts Point and Woolloomooloo. They were originally called Challis Stairs.

Woolloomooloo

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Once a desirable bayside address east of central Sydney, the area grew more congested and grimy as the wharves expanded and the boarding houses and pubs gave refuge to larrikin gangs and petty criminals. Though now bisected by freeways and rail it is slowly reclaiming its heritage and character with extensive residential development and sympathetic landscaping.

Potts Point

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Small, densely populated inner-eastern suburb, joined to Garden Island in 1942. It contains significant nineteenth-century buildings as well as some of Sydney's earliest apartment buildings in the Art Deco style. It includes the locality of Kings Cross.