blockboy

Wonderful, wonderful picture. I love it. GPO clock says 16:05 (five past four in the afternoon). Was this rush hour on Pyrmont Bridge, or just a jam caused by the swing bridge being opened recently to let a ship through? Probably the latter, as the traffic is thinner towards Market Street. The Shellbourne Hotel (see note on the right side) shows up on Google street view with a conveniently large sign saying it was built in 1902. So this photo is post 1902. maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geo...

The bridge was opened for traffic on 28 June 1902. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrmont_Bridge

Henry Bull building 1904 - see note. Also Sydney City website dates this picture as 1904? Their picture is missing the GPO clock (16:05) - cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/history/SydneyStreets/Then_&_...

But where's the monorail?

The "Blockboy" or "sparrow starver" (see note at right) - was a vital part of the city's infrastructure. He is a bit cropped out on the City of Sydney's version. See - cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/history/SydneyStreets/Minding_the...

One of my favourite images of Sydney. I discovered this image at PHM about a year ago when researching an exhibition I was working on. I still loving looking at all the details captured in it. Amazing to see these images of Sydney during that period and return to the spot they were taken to see how the city has changed.

It's probably worth mentioning that Peapes was a classy men's store which lingered on for many years, probably due to it's proximity to the later-to-be-constructed Wynyard railway station ramp. The actual direction of this photo is looking SSW, 'down' George Street towards Town Hall and away from Circular Quay.

Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Sydney's older buildings and structures. , and we'd love to have this added to the group!

Between December 1899 (when the electric trams began in George St.) and 1904 (electric street lighting, not evident in this photo). Peapes (& Shaw) had an earlier store across George Street at No. 324 (that all rhymes!) -

Open to correction by tramway experts - I think this is definitely Pitt Street looking south from about the Spring St corner. According to wikipedia, "Trams operated from Central station down Castlereagh Street to Circular Quay and back up Pitt Street in a large anti-clockwise loop.". Hence the single tramway line towards the left of the street. Not so sure about the "1900-1912" date. The City of Sydney website says that style of street light happened after 1912 - history.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/sydneystreets/Minding_the... Also the car ...

Aha! A similar photo from Charles Kerry (PhM) - slightly further south -

GoogleMapsStreetView

Melbourne Steamship Co. Ltd, opened their Sydney office in 1905 - gallery.its.unimelb.edu.au/imu/imu.php?request=display&am...

Nice John. interesting to see that the car, probably a post WW1 unit by the look of it, is outnumbered by horse+cart. I'm leaning towards George Street but unsure.