Sydney CBD

Martin Place

Martin Place was not laid out; it was assembled, one block at a time, over forty-three years. A widened street in front of the General Post Office, George to Pitt, opened in September 1892 and took the name of the Chief Justice, Sir James Martin. Moore Street, the next block east, was widened and renamed Martin Place in 1921. The run from Castlereagh to Macquarie was not finished until 1935. So a photograph of it is always a photograph of a particular stage of it, and the earliest ones are of a street that did not yet carry the name.

That is what makes the 1913 view worth a second look. It is captioned Moore Street, because that is what it was: trams, drays and hansom cabs sharing a roadway between Pitt and Castlereagh, with the GPO clock tower closing the view at the far end and no Commonwealth Bank on the corner yet. Eight years later the same roadway would be widened and given a new name.

Then it became the place Sydney assembled. The Cenotaph was dedicated on 8 August 1927, though Bertram Mackennal's bronze soldier and sailor were still in England and did not arrive until February 1929; the completed memorial was unveiled on 21 February that year with General Sir John Monash present. From then on the street had a fixed point in it. There is an Armistice Day frame from 11 November 1937 — an RAAF officer in service dress holding his gloves and his sword at the wreath-laying — and the whole length of the facades hung with the flags of the Allies, Union Jacks and stars and stripes and the Japanese rising sun among them, the Library dating the scene between 1934 and 1938. On 15 August 1945 the crowds filled it end to end for the end of the war, a 2UW broadcasting stand up in the roadway.

The quietest images are the ones to finish on. Market stalls down the middle of the street in 1949, shoppers threading between them under the twin-globe lamps, cars parked at the kerb in 1951. Martin Place kept its traffic until the plaza was built in stages between 1971 and 1979, so a car parked on that roadway is a date stamp.

9 works
Martin Place looking west, with the General Post Office clock tower — photograph, from Martin Place, circa 1898
photograph·1898·Sydney CBD

Martin Place looking west, with the General Post Office clock tower

Streetscapes including Martin Place, Circular Quay, Gloucester Street (with St. Phillip's Church in background), house demolition [in the Rocks?], Pyrmont Bridge, Prince Albert Memorial in Hyde Park and the Botanical GardensFrederick Danvers Power
Martin Place strung with the flags of the Great War Allies — photograph, from Martin Place, circa 1932
photograph·1932·Sydney CBD

Martin Place strung with the flags of the Great War Allies

Hood Collection part II, Box 074, nos. 194-206 : Hyde Park; Garden Island; Martin Place; Nan Gordon production, Minerva Theatre; Advertisement for film The Indian NationSam Hood
Trams and horse-drawn traffic on Castlereagh Street near Martin Place, Sydney — photograph, from Martin Place, circa 1900
photograph·1900·Sydney CBD

Trams and horse-drawn traffic on Castlereagh Street near Martin Place, Sydney

Sydney. Castlereagh Street, near Martin Place. Trams, horses & carts etceteraStar Photo Co.
Moore Street, later Martin Place, Sydney, 1913 — photograph, from Martin Place, circa 1913
photograph·1913·Sydney CBD

Moore Street, later Martin Place, Sydney, 1913

View from Castlereagh Street end of Moore Street (later Martin Place), showing the trams and horse-drawn vehicles and hansom cabs. (The Commonwealth Bank had not been built.)Sam Hood
RAAF officer at the Armistice Day wreath-laying, Cenotaph, Martin Place, 1937 — photograph, from Martin Place, circa 1937
photograph·1937·Sydney CBD

RAAF officer at the Armistice Day wreath-laying, Cenotaph, Martin Place, 1937

Hood Collection part II, Box 012, nos. 146-178 : Rural Bank officers, horses, Centennial Park; Bachelors' Ball, Elizabeth Bay House; Beach scenes at Clovelly and Tamarama; Women from Rural Bank at Cenotaph, Commonwealth Bank Armistice Day at CenotaphSam Hood
Martin Place from Castlereagh Street, Sydney, 1951 — photograph, from Martin Place, circa 1951
photograph·1951·Sydney CBD

Martin Place from Castlereagh Street, Sydney, 1951

Sydney streets, August 1951
Victory parade and crowds for the end of the Second World War, Martin Place, Sydney, 1945 — photograph, from Martin Place, circa 1945
photograph·1945·Sydney CBD

Victory parade and crowds for the end of the Second World War, Martin Place, Sydney, 1945

Peace celebrations, SydneySam Hood
Footpath crowds and street stalls, Martin Place, Sydney — photograph, from Martin Place, circa 1949
photograph·1949·Sydney CBD

Footpath crowds and street stalls, Martin Place, Sydney

Sydney
Market stalls and pedestrians along Martin Place, 1949 — photograph, from Martin Place, circa 1949
photograph·1949·Sydney CBD

Market stalls and pedestrians along Martin Place, 1949

Sydney