Editing Circular Quay (section)

==History==
===Indigenous history===
{{see also|Sydney rock engravings}}
The Aboriginal name for Circular Quay is ''Warrung'', meaning "Little Child".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Andrews |first1=Graeme |title=A Pictorial History of Ferries: Sydney and Surrounding Waterways |date=1982 |publisher=AH & AW Reed |location=Sydney |isbn=0589503863 |page=9}}</ref>

The first people to occupy the area now known as Sydney were [[Aboriginal Australians]]. [[Radiocarbon dating]] suggests that they lived in and around Sydney for at least 30,000 years.<ref name="Settlers' history rewritten">{{cite news|last=Macey|first=Richard|date=2007|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/settlers-history-rewritten/2007/09/14/1189276983698.html|title=Settlers' history rewritten: go back 30,000 years|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=5 July 2014}}</ref> In an archaeological dig in [[Parramatta]], [[Western Sydney]], it was found that the Aboriginals used [[charcoal]], stone tools and possibly ancient campfires.<ref>{{cite book|author-link=Geoffrey Blainey|author=Blainey, Geoffrey|title=A Very Short History of the World|publisher=Penguin Books|year=2004|isbn=978-0-14-300559-9}}</ref> Near [[Penrith, New South Wales|Penrith]], a [[Greater Western Sydney|far western]] suburb of Sydney, numerous Aboriginal stone tools were found in Cranebrook Terraces gravel sediments having dates of 45,000 to 50,000 years BP.<ref name=Stockton-Nanson-2004>{{Cite journal | last1= Stockton | first1= Eugene D. | last2= Nanson | first2= Gerald C. |date=April 2004 | title= Cranebrook Terrace Revisited | journal= Archaeology in Oceania | volume= 39 | issue= 1 | pages= 59–60 | doi= 10.1002/j.1834-4453.2004.tb00560.x | jstor=40387277 }}</ref>

Prior to the arrival of the British there were 4,000 to 8,000 native people in the Sydney area from as many as 29 different clans.<ref name="Aboriginal people and place">{{cite web|publisher=Sydney Barani|date=2013|url=http://www.sydneybarani.com.au/sites/aboriginal-people-and-place/|title=Aboriginal people and place|access-date=5 July 2014}}</ref> Sydney Cove from [[Port Jackson]] to [[Petersham, New South Wales|Petersham]] was inhabited by the [[Cadigal]] clan.<ref name="Aboriginal people and place" /> The principal language groups were [[Darug]], [[Kuringgai|Guringai]], and [[Tharawal|Dharawal]]. The earliest Europeans to visit the area noted that the indigenous people were conducting activities such as camping and fishing, using trees for bark and food, collecting shells, and cooking fish.<ref name="Cook's landing site">{{cite web|publisher=Department of the Environment|date=2014|url=http://www.environment.gov.au/node/19670|title=Cook's landing site|access-date=5 July 2014}}</ref> The [[Eora]] are the coastal Aboriginals of the Sydney district. The name ''Eora'' simply means "here" or "from this place", and was used by local Aboriginals to describe to the British where they came from. The [[Cadigal]] band are the traditional inhabitants of the Sydney CBD area, and their territory south of Port Jackson stretched from South Head to Petersham.

===Colonial settlement===
[[File:Adolphe Jean-Baptiste Bayot03.jpg|thumb|upright=1.63|View east across Sydney Cove (Circular Quay) (c. 1841)]]

{{see also|History of Sydney}}
[[Sydney Cove]], on which Circular Quay is located, was the site of the initial landing of the [[First Fleet]] in [[Port Jackson]] on 26 January 1788.

The governor's temporary canvas house was erected on the east side of the cove,<ref name="DOS">{{cite web| url=http://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/east_circular_quay | website=Dictionary of Sydney| title=East Circular Quay}}</ref> while the western shore became the centre of the early settlement. It was the focal point from which the city of Sydney grew. The first wharf on the shore of Sydney Cove probably dated from around 1792. In 1802 it was replaced with a timber-framed wharf called "Hospital Wharf", the first public wharf of the colony (later renamed King's Wharf and Queen's Wharf).

Late 18th-century Scottish constitutional reformer [[Thomas Muir (political reformer)|Thomas Muir]] was sentenced to transportation to Sydney for sedition, and had a cottage on what is now Circular Quay. Thomas Muir escaped from the colony in 1796 aboard an American brig, the [[Otter (1795 ship)|''Otter'']].

The eastern side of the cove remained largely uninhabited in the early years of the colony; one notable inhabitant was [[Bennelong]], after whom the adjacent [[Bennelong Point]] and [[Bennelong Apartments]] are named. In the early 19th century, the entire eastern shore of Circular Quay was part of [[The Domain, Sydney|the Governor's Domain]], though some commercial activity developed along the shoreline. The western shore, being adjacent to the original settlement now known as [[The Rocks, Sydney|The Rocks]], was busier. [[Cadman's Cottage]] is a building which survives from that era, built in 1816 for the use of the governmental coxswains and their crews, it marks approximately the location of Circular Quay's natural western shore, prior to reconstruction. The Commissariat Stores (built in 1809) and Australia's first naval dock were also located on the western shore. The naval dockyard was expanded in 1818–1822 under [[Governor Macquarie]], with four repairing docks.

===Working port===
{{wide image|Circular Quay from a ship's mast, 1903 (3649952406).jpg|800px|Panorama of Circular Quay from a ship's mast, 1903, by [[Melvin Vaniman]]}}
[[File:Circular Quay, 1892.jpg|thumb|East Circular Quay in 1892, showing the "wool stores"]]
[[File:Sydney's Circular Quay at night in 1938.jpg|thumb|Circular Quay at night from the [[Sydney Harbour Bridge]] in 1938]]
Circular Quay was constructed in 1837–1844 by reconstructing the southern section of Sydney Cove with an artificial shoreline. The mouth of the [[Tank Stream]], which flowed into Sydney Cove at the western end of Circular Quay, was in-filled. The harbour was originally known as "Semi-Circular Quay", this being the actual shape of the quay. The name was shortened for convenience.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sydneyports.com.au/Mediaroom/FirstPort/pdfs/Centenary%20book%20Chapter%201.pdf |title=Sydney town and port established 1788–1900 |work=[[Port Authority of New South Wales|Sydney Ports Corporation]] |date=21 August 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060821040053/http://www.sydneyports.com.au/Mediaroom/FirstPort/pdfs/Centenary%20book%20Chapter%201.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2006-08-21}}</ref> Wharves were built on the southern shore. Reflecting Circular Quay's status as the central harbour for Sydney, the [[Customs House, Sydney|Customs House]] was built on the southern shore in 1844–1845. During the construction of Circular Quay, the eastern side of the cove was used as a quarry and housed construction works. After the governor's residence was moved up the hill to the present [[Government House, Sydney|Government House]] in the 1840s and 1850s, [[Macquarie Street, Sydney|Macquarie Street]] was extended north through the Governor's Domain to [[Fort Macquarie]]. This led to the development of the area between the street and the shore into a commercial working wharf dominated by the wool trade, while the eastern side of the street remained part of the Domain. This part of Macquarie Street became known as the "wool store" end.<ref name="DOS"/> Wool and bond stores and warehouses appeared on the site. The historic "Moore Steps" was built in 1868 as a passage between two wool stores, leading from the shore to Macquarie Street. By the 1860s, all three sides of Circular Quay were dominated by wharves and warehouses.

However, by the 1870s, much of the commercial shipping activities was moving away from Circular Quay. The harbour was becoming too small to accommodate the increasing number of large ships accessing Sydney. Instead, shipping activities moved further westwards to [[Darling Harbour]], which also had the advantage of a railway line.

With the absence of commercial shipping, the harbour became increasingly used for passenger transport. The first ferry wharf was built on the southern shore in 1879. From the 1890s, ferry terminals came to dominate the harbour, and Circular Quay became the hub of the Sydney ferry network. The [[Sydney Harbour Trust]] was formed in 1900.

===Transport developments===
[[File:Cahill Expressway Construction.jpg|thumb|The Cahill Expressway and railway viaduct under construction at Circular Quay]]
Circular Quay was also a tram hub. It was the focal terminal point of most [[Trams in Sydney#Eastern suburbs lines|electric tram]] services to the [[Eastern Suburbs (Sydney)|Eastern Suburbs]]. The first tram to operate through Circular Quay was horse-drawn, running from the old Sydney Railway station to Circular Quay along [[Pitt Street]] in 1861<ref name=tram>{{cite journal |title=The 1861 Pitt Street Tramway and the Contemporary Horse Drawn Railway Proposals |author=Wylie, R. F. |journal=[[Australian Railway History|Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin]] |date=February 1965 |pages=21–32 }}</ref> allowing easy transfer to ferries. Trams operated from [[Central railway station, Sydney|Central station]] down [[Castlereagh Street]] to Circular Quay and back up Pitt Street in a large anti-clockwise loop. For many years, 27 regular services operated from Circular Quay.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Cable Trams of Sydney and the Experiments Leading to Final Electrification of the Tramways |author=Wylie, R. F. |journal=[[Australian Railway History|Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin]] |date=July 1974 |pages=145–168; 190–192 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=The Inauguration of Sydney's Steam Tramways |author=Wylie, R. F. |journal=[[Australian Railway History|Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin]] |date=March 1969 |pages=49–59 }}</ref>

From 1936, the appearance of Circular Quay was dramatically changed with the construction of a railway viaduct, and later the elevated [[Cahill Expressway]] above the viaduct, across the southern shore of the cove. [[Circular Quay railway station]] was opened on 20 January 1956<ref>[http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=4801109 Circular Quay Railway Station and Viaduct] NSW Environment & Heritage Retrieved 4 December 2014</ref> and the elevated Cahill Expressway was officially opened on 24 March 1958.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://history.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/sydneystreets/How_to_Build_a_Street/Cahill_Expressway/default.html |title=How to Build a Street Cahill Expressway| website=City of Sydney| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160615170420/http://history.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/sydneystreets/How_to_Build_a_Street/Cahill_Expressway/default.html |archive-date=15 June 2016}}</ref>

On 14 December 2019, Circular Quay connected to light rail with the opening of the L2 Randwick Line of the [[CBD and South East Light Rail]]. It marked the return of light rail to Sydney's city center after 58 years, connecting the CBD to the southeastern suburbs.

===Building developments===
[[File:1963 CIRCULAR QUAY, SYDNEY (2911092175).jpg|thumb|Circular Quay in 1963, viewed from the northeast]]
[[File:East Circular Quay waterfront 2017.jpg|thumb|left|East Circular Quay waterfront in the early 21st century]]

The construction of the viaduct led to the demolition of the old Maritime Services Board building on the south-western shore. A replacement was constructed further north in 1940, and is today the [[Museum of Contemporary Art Australia|Museum of Contemporary Art]]. Further north, the Sydney Cove Passenger Terminal was built in 1958–1960 to accommodate the increasing number of passengers arriving by ship. The building was renovated in 1988, 2000 and 2014. Large liners and cruise ships often dock here, their size dominating the cove. East Circular Quay was redeveloped from the 1950s with the replacement of wool stores with modernist commercial buildings. The Sydney height limit was increased from {{convert|150|to|915|ft|m|0|order=flip}} in 1959, and a number of Sydney's first skyscrapers were built around Circular Quay. The [[AMP Building, Sydney|AMP Building]] on the southern shore was Sydney's tallest building when completed in 1962. In 1973, the [[Sydney Opera House]] was completed at the northeastern end of Sydney Cove.

Between 1971 and 1989, Colonial Mutual Life acquired land along Circular Quay for a large scale development. The initial design caused significant controversy around the country, including intervention by the Prime Minister, [[Paul Keating]], and internationally.<ref>{{cite news |title=Tempest Swirls around Sydney's Landmark Opera House |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/1998/0717/071798.feat.feat.11.html/(page)/3 |work=[[The Christian Science Monitor]] |date=17 July 1998 |page=3 }}</ref> A revised 1992 design had the developer reducing building height and providing a colonnade for public access, in exchange for the development extending further towards the foreshore. The resulting development of [[Bennelong Apartments]] (nicknamed by critics as ''The Toaster''), and is criticised for it positioning and for obscuring views of the Sydney Opera House, from the main pedestrian approach.{{citation needed|date=November 2018}}

In 2019, several property developments underway by the private sector in the area, including: Quay Quarter Sydney by AMP Capital, Opera Residences, One Circular Quay by Yuhu Group, Circular Quay Tower by Lendlease, and the Sandstone Hotels precinct by Pontiac Group. In addition, the Sydney Opera House is undergoing its largest renewal project since its opening.