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Cammeraygal country until the Europeans came, Kurraba Point is a small locality in Neutral Bay. Part of the Thrupps estate, it was not subdivided until the 1850s, though a quarry was working there in the 1840s. A soap factory, and a ferry depot and engineering works were…

As middle-class suburbs burgeoned after World War I, so did the number of golf clubs, which functioned as vehicles for social agency, class formation and community stabilisation.

Wangal country for thousands of years, land in the area that became known as Liberty Plains was granted to settlers from 1793. The area included land that has since become the suburbs of Lidcombe, Auburn, Newington and Homebush Bay. Population grew slowly, and in the 1830s,…

The Empress Hotel in Redfern was an important meeting place for the Aboriginal community and a central place to socialise. It was also the site of heavy-handed police action and the focus of racial persecution.

One of several 'little theatres' formed as a reaction to the dominance of commercial mainstream interests, the Turret espoused cultural interests in the current fashion for literary theatre during its short life on the lower North Shore.

Once a convenient stopping place for bullock carts, the Haymarket traditionally attracted cheap housing and entertainment to service its many markets. Many such elements remain in a modern guise as the theatre district and Chinatown have expanded into the area.

Glenhurst was built on the Glenhurst Estate in Darling Point. It was demolished in 1959 or 1960 and replaced by Glenhurst Gardens apartment building.

Hessian-born soldier and surveyor Augustus Alt is commemorated by Alt Street, Ashfield, and buried in Parramatta.

Camp Cove and the freshwater pond behind it were traditional camping and fishing sites for the Cadigal traditional owners. The Europeans made first landfall there on 21 January 1788, while exploring Port Jackson, but Aboriginal people lived there until the 1840s. The cove…

River flats that became Crosslands Reserve when it was occupied by timber-cutter Burton Crossland in the 1850s.  Later a picnic spot, the reserve is managed by Hornsby Council.

Built in 1844, the Hero was linked to tales of smuggling and press-ganging in Millers Point's maritime past, but its history is more commercial than criminal.

Used as housing, offices and a dispensary between the 1820s and 1850s, the southern wing of the General Hospital was taken over as a branch of the Royal Mint after the gold rush, and opened in 1854. In 1926, the Mint moved to Canberra, and the building became government…

Aboriginal people, like later arrivals, found Bondi an attractive place, with its abundant nearby fresh water, fish and rocky shores full of shellfish. On the rocky platforms are huge carvings of fish, sharks, whales and people, thousands of years old.

Cadigal and Wangal country that was parcelled out to the Church of England soon after the Europeans arrived, Glebe became a retreat for the gentry and later a gritty working-class enclave. The late twentieth century saw it transformed again into a heritage precinct, saved…

Long a centre of waterfront industry, including a saw mill, a power station, an oil terminal, and a container wharf, White Bay is now a more peaceful place, with Birrung Park preserving some industrial heritage.

Famed for its ocean views, the Gap has been a tourist attraction since the beginning of European settlement. It has also been the site of many suicides, and an important site of military installations.

Planted on land set aside for the governor's demesne, the Botanic Gardens began as kitchen gardens but by the 1840s were already filled with many native and exotic trees and plants for propagation, study and experiment. from the 1850s, the Gardens were laid out according to…