Dictionary of Sydney

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts

Educational institution
01 Jan 1833 -

The oldest School of Arts in Sydney was founded to provide further education for working people and has done so since its inception in 1833.

-33.874188070935, 151.20818075537

Milestone
Formed
1833
Name
Commemorated by
Position
1833
1833
1833 - 1837
1833 - 1838
1833
1833
1833
1838 - 1843
1844 - 1851
1847 - 1897
1850
1851
1852 - 1854
1855
1855
1856
1856 - 1865
1859
1863 - 1875
1866
1867 - 1873
1874 - 1880
1881 - 1882
1883 - 1884
1883 - 1894
1893 - 1895
Property
Occupied
1837 - 1988
Owner of
1996 -
Occupied
2000 -
Type

Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts

CC BY-SA 2.0
,
2008

Founded in 1833 on the model of Scottish Mechanics' Institutes, the SMSA sought to provide further education for working men through lectures, classes and a library. Many of Sydney's foremost intellectuals, inventors and innovators were associated with it, and it influenced the development of both the University of Sydney and technical education in New South Wales. It still provides a library and lectures to Sydneysiders in 2009.

Arthouse Hotel

CC BY-SA 2.0
,
2010

Built as the library, hall and rooms for the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts, and long a centre of cultural life in Sydney, the Arthouse Hotel was converted into a pub in the 1990s.

Lincoln House

CC BY-SA 2.0
,
2012

Built as a commercial building in the 1920s, Lincoln House has had a second life as the headquarters of the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts.