Pitt Street at Bridge

This is the most extraordinary photo of Sydney I've ever seen. Though there are many contemporary watercolours of it, this is the only actual photo of the Tank Stream itself I've been able to find over many years. I assumed that none existed as it must have been built over before photography came to Sydney. But here is 1856, and the Tank Stream appears to be being prepared for eventual infilling and covering over. Pitt Street has been realigned to its present width, and the steep bank is made of fill.

The stream still runs in a subterranean brick tunnel.

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Welcome, this site is all about Sydney 'then and now'..

The pics: Do click to enlarge the old photos as I've restored most of them from their faded small originals, and the details you'll often see in them can give an awesome insight into how ordinary people, your and my ancestors, actually lived.

Then: Where nothing today remains of a 'Then' scene, the Google Street Views of the 'Now' location have been verified through old maps and the NSW government's SIXMaps.

Sources: Most of the old photos have been collected over many years through the now-defunct Picture Australia and the original sources lost, but almost all are now found through Trove; variously from the National Library, the State Libraries of NSW and Vic, and the National Archives. Some are also via Flickr, so if you know the source of any, do let me know and I will add the credit.

Me: I'm Ross, a major oldsydneyphile (that's a word, really - well, now it is anyway). I grew up here from the 60s. Originally, I made the site in 2006-2008, and restarted it in 2018 using the 'now' scenes supplied by Google Street View.

Pitt Street at Bridge

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