This is another Historical Mark, in Bradfield Park North, on the northern side of the western entrance to the Milsons Point Train Station. It is a printed metal 'tablet' angled on a post, in the landscaped garden beside the concrete retaining wall of the rail line. The sign reads:
Building The Bridge: Resumption & Demolition
This photograph shows the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge
northern approaches c. 1929. Source: State Records
"My father was given a job as a labourer on the Bridge
because their property had been resumed. He worked
there until the Bridge was completed."
[Bruce Jenkins, Oral History Interview; Stanton Library, North Sydney Council]
The building of the Sydney Harbour bridge and its northern approaches disrupted the life and work of Milsons Point residents. Government resumption and demolition of the neighbourhood on this side of the bridge approach began in 1923.
The Reverend Frank Cash was a Rector of Christ Church at Lavender Bay. Cash created a unique photographic record of the bridge under construction and the Milsons Point demolitions.
Known to bridge workers as the 'Mascot Padre', Rev Cash took more than 10,000 photographs of the entire procedure of resumption, demolition and construction (approximately 500 homes and businesses were lost). While Cash mourned the loss of housing and community, he saw the bridge as a symbol of prosperity and growth.
Property owners were compensated for the resumption of land and buildings. However, those who leased homes and businesses received nothing more than removal costs. Some affected by the resumptions were offered employment on the bridge.
This image shows the side and rear of No. 129 Alfred Street during demolition for
the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Source: State Library NSW
"'Preparations for the Harbour Bridge' was a phrase heard upon the lips of people during the years 1923, 1924, and 1925. The immediate effect of the various preparations was felt by people in varying degrees."
Reverend Frank Cash: Rector Christ Church
This image shows the side and rear of No. 121 Alfred Street during demolition
for the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Source: State Library NSW
While financial compensation for the residents and shopkeepers was the subject of debate, many north-side residents accepted the building of the bridge as a 'modern necessity'.
"There were certainly no uprisings and there certainly no demonstrations that I recall - it was something that happened … people might not have had much to say in the matters in those days…"
Victor Wills, Oral History Interview; Stanton Library, North Sydney Council
Visited: 1258, Friday, 10 March, 2017