Maps of Sydney – From January 1788 Onwards

Sydney’s first European maps are arguments dressed as surveys: here is the cove we took, here is the stream, here is the grid we meant to impose on Warrane. From January 1788 the harbour, the Tank Stream and the streets get drawn, redrawn and sold. Eight plates is not a cartographic history of the city — it is a comparison set. Look for the shoreline before Circular Quay was filled, for Bridge Street at the head of the tide, for the moment the town jumps the stream.

Don’t hang a cartographer on an untitled sheet. If a map names Hunter, Dawes, Meehan or a later county survey, say so; otherwise “early survey” is enough and more honest. Comparing maps shows the landscape changing. Pair this folder with the Nineteen Counties sheet and Fowles’s 1848 elevations elsewhere on the blog. Maps tell you where the streets were supposed to go; Fowles tells you what stood on them.

Maps Of Sydney