The Rocks was the first place of European settlement in Australia and is located to the west of Circular Quay. It is the traditional home of the Gadigal people who had lived on the land for thousands of years before European settlement. The Rocks is home to Sydney's oldest house, Cadman's cottage which was originally built to house navel crews, and still stands today as a historic site. In the early 1800’s while Sydney was turning into a city The Rocks was known to be the commercial hub of the city. It was well known for drunken behavior, brothels and unsavory characters, and the fact that The Rocks was vastly populated by convicts and their descendants didn’t help the areas reputation. In 1900 there was an outbreak of the Bubonic Plague and The Rocks and many other waterfronts areas were barricaded of from the rest of the city to try and contain it. In the end, out of the 103 deaths only three were from the local area. During the 1900’s many of the houses and shops in The Rocks were demolished for the building of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Cahill expressway.
Today The Rocks is a major tourist center and has had many major changes over time which have shaped it to be the center that it is today. The area is full of a rich and wonderful history of the birth of Sydney and still maintains some of the original architecture from when it was just part of a colony. It is an area with an interesting history and somewhere to explore at the turn of every corner.
Click the link below to listen to the audio:
Today The Rocks is a major tourist center and has had many major changes over time which have shaped it to be the center that it is today. The area is full of a rich and wonderful history of the birth of Sydney and still maintains some of the original architecture from when it was just part of a colony. It is an area with an interesting history and somewhere to explore at the turn of every corner.
Click the link below to listen to the audio:
the_rocks.wma | |
File Size: | 1145 kb |
File Type: | wma |