Sydney - Dawes Point

At the northern tip of the promontory on the west side of Sydney Cove is Dawes Point, now a small garden in the shadow of the Harbour Bridge, with good view of the Opera House and Circular Quay. In 1788 William Dawes, a naval officer who was also an astronomer, built an observatory here and a battery protected by earth ramparts. A later stone-built fort was destroyed during the construction of the piers for the Harbour Bridge. The cannon of 1843 and 1844 at the foot of the southeast pier mark the site of Dawes's battery.

The curving bay between Dawes Point and Millers Point, to the west of the Harbour Bridge, was an anchorage for whalers and sailing ships between 1790 and 1840. After the outbreak of plague around 1900 all the landing stages were rebuilt. In 1912 the first Ocean Passenger Terminal was built, and thereafter hundreds of thousands of immigrants entered Australia here. The terminal was closed down in 1963 and Pier 1 became the site of a shopping, entertainment and restaurant complex, while the buildings on Piers 4 and 5 were converted into a theatre.