02/12/2021
29 November 1985, a very dramatic aerial photograph showing construction on the Darling Harbour recreational and pedestrian precinct which was completed in 1988, for Sydney’s Bicentennial Celebrations.
Photograph also shows the North Western Freeway over Darling Harbour Goods Yard. The Western viaduct opened to traffic in May 1980 with the Eastern viaduct opened to traffic in June 1981.
The Pyrmont Bridge (centre of pic) a heritage-listed swing bridge across Cockle Bay opened in 1902. Millers Point wharves 3-5 and Maritime Harbour Control tower (right of pic) located along Hickson Road. The wharves have now been closed and the region redeveloped and renamed Barangaroo. Wharf 7 and Jones Bay Wharf are pictured opposite along with Balmain East Peninsula and Goat Island.
Sydney Entertainment Centre (bottom right) opened in May 1983, to replace Sydney Stadium. It was demolished in January 2016.
Originally named Long Cove, the locality extends northwards from Chinatown, along both sides of Cockle Bay to King Street Wharf 3 on the east, and to the suburb of Pyrmont on the west. Cockle Bay is just one of the waterways that makes up Darling Harbour, which opens north into the much larger Port Jackson.
[Photo courtesy Getty Images » Fairfax Media Archives]