Circular Quay East 1900, 1870, 1884

Original

Today (Google)

The Quay, looking north from Phillip Street in 1900. The problem with poor quality original images, which is my favourite source - the poorer they are, the more satisfying the restoration - is the lack of fine detail. So while I was able to cross-reference the signs on the buildings from other contemporaneous photos, I was unable to put a name to the ship moored at the Eastern Australian Royal Mail Line wharf. Perhaps someone can assist?

Original 1870

Restored

Here is a wonderful 1870 view, looking back to Phillip Street at the direction of the 1900 image above. It shows how simple was the Quay in earlier Victorian times. Beginning in the 1840's, it was being developed from an ordinary V-shaped bay with mud flats into the circular walled wharf we have today, using literally decades of infill.

(As an aside, in quite a few photos taken in the early 1870s, there's a singular young chap stationed like a prop, similar to the one in the foreground above. It's such a regular feature that I wonder if it's the photographer's son. There were few people taking photos at that time, so it might be a sort of signature.)

Original 1884

Restored

Here is much the same aspect just fourteen years later. More buildings, more activity, but also there are grand buildings beginning to appear on the skyline. At top left is the Colonial Secretary's building, and top right is the Lands Department. We have transitioned from quiet outpost to wealthy colony.

As another aside, you may notice the very tall lightposts in the 1884 image (and 1900)? They were the brand-new technology arc-lamps; electric flood-lighting for night cargo handling. The port was so busy that night illumination was brought in to cope. Arc-lamps were primitive by our standards, as they spat loudly, gave off noxious fumes, and needed replacing every 75 hours. But they were incredibly bright, and also were a popular novelty for the locals. They lasted until WW1 when they were replaced with more cost-efficient electricity.