Petersham 1888

What strikes me most here is the engineering - all cut, dug and built by hand, with just rudimentary tools, no machines. And for a remote, small population, where these works are repeated throughout the land, it's an amazing feat. We really don't appreciate our pioneers.

Today, the same spot, just higher up, as a light-rail line runs beneath, and under that again the creek is now a concreted canal.

As an addendum, next to the modern viaduct is a remnant of the original. You have to look for it to know it was there.

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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.

Petersham 1888

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