Bridge Street, at the northern end of the city, owes its name to the bridge that was erected
to cross the Tank Stream.
This was the first bridge erected by the British settlers in Australia. The Tank Stream, the only source of natural
water, was the reason that the first settlers chose Sydney Cove for their settlement and not one of the other coves
along the harbour. The first bridge, a timber structure, was built soon after the colonists settled, and those
using the bridge were charged a toll of a halfpenny per head. The first of many tollways in Australia. The bridge
is shown in the chart of 1800.
The Sydney Gazette (May 26 1804)
urged the able-bodied among its readers to lend a hand in building a replacement stone bridge and added: "If on
the other hand the work should be left to be finished by the labour of a few feeble women, the length of time
likely to intervene will be attended with a portion of inconvenience that must continue to be severely felt by
the owners of carriages and horses". The appeal had its desired effect and the bridge was quickly built. Gov.
Phillip permitted the early settlers to occupy Crown lands adjoining the Tank Stream, but no titles were given
to their holdings. A fifteen-metre green belt was preserved on either side and cutting of timber and grazing of
stock forbidden. Australia's first "green" environmental plan. Before long, however, the flow in the stream
became scanty and, though people dug wells and found other springs, the settlement was only in its second year
when it found itself in dire need of more water.
With dry conditions in the summer of 1789 and throughout 1790, the Tank Stream was
so reduced that Phillip had three tanks cut in the sandstone beside the stream. One of these was at the present
intersection of Pitt and Spring Streets, and the other two on the opposite side of the streaming Bond Street.
These tanks gave the stream its name. Water was later found by well-sinking and new areas along High Street (now
George Street) towards Brickfield Hill were opened up.
After Phillip left Australia the protection of Tank Stream was dropped and it quickly became polluted, turning into
an open sewer and it became a major source of smell and illness. To protect the settlers, Tank Stream was covered
at some places at first, then with the expanding city, in its entirety.
Bridge Street Tramway:
In 1880, the first tram line that operated from adjacent to the Redfern Railway Terminal to Elizabeth Street at
Hunter Street, was extended from Hunter Street to Bridge Street, and a terminal yard was created on land behind the
former Treasury Building, on the corner of Bridge and Phillip Streets. This terminal grew into a minor depot, with
seven storage sidings and coke and water facilities.
Later that year, the first suburban line opened for traffic between Alison Road, Randwick (at the Racecourse) and
Bridge Street. This line was extended into Randwick shopping centre in March 1881, whilst at the same time, a
branch was led from Taylor Square along Oxford Street to Ocean Street (known as the Waverley Line). The Randwick
Line was extended to Coogee in 1883.
Other notable buildings in Bridge Street.
The Burns Philp Building has state historical significance for its relationship, and continuous association from
1901-1997, with the Burns Philp Company, a major Australian maritime company who traded with the Pacific
The Burns Philp Building was built and established in 1899. Before the building the land was occupied by early
settlers and eventually utilised by a lumberyard and a series of five buildings occupied by a number of small
business' including a watchmaker, loan office, tea-rooms, a bedding manufacturer and a warehouse.