The first milestone

Colonial Sydney measured road distances from Francis Greenway’s Obelisk of Distances in Macquarie Place (1818) — the official zero point for public roads to Parramatta, Windsor, Liverpool and beyond. Along those routes, milestones marked each mile. The stone in this post is the one-mile milestone on the eastern side of George Street, slightly south of Liverpool Street, on the rise historically called Brickfield Hill (the old brick-making locality between roughly today’s Town Hall and Central).

After weathering, Sydney Municipal Council in 1903 had the stone removed and the lettering recut with an inscription reading along the lines of “Sydney 1 mile” — wording that puzzled readers because Macquarie Place, not Brickfield Hill, was where “Sydney” distances began. The milestone therefore marks one mile from the Macquarie Place obelisk, not a separate origin point.

The photograph here shows the George Street / Brickfield Hill one-mile marker (or its 1903 recut successor), with the Macquarie Place obelisk as the true zero.

THE FIRST MILESTONE

George Street, Eastern Side, Slightly South Of Liverpool Street

Because the lettering had weathered Since its erection in 1818, the City Council In 1903 had the milestone removed and recut with the inscription Sydney 1 mile this was most confusing. Where did Sydney Begin and where did Sydney end

In December 1793 the spot where the first milestone stands was known as Brickfield Hill. Captain Collins judge advocate in his journal of that year For  describes the building of a home for soldiers at the present day wynyard Square

The milestone Located At Liverpool NSW