Indigenous history The Aboriginal name for Circular Quay is
Warrung, meaning "little child". The first people to occupy the area now known as Sydney were
Aboriginal Australians.
Radiocarbon dating suggests that they lived in and around Sydney for at least 30,000 years. In an archaeological dig in
Parramatta,
Western Sydney, it was found that the Aboriginals used
charcoal, stone tools and possibly ancient campfires. Near
Penrith, a
far western suburb of Sydney, numerous Aboriginal stone tools were found in Cranebrook Terraces gravel sediments having dates of 45,000 to 50,000 years BP. Prior to the arrival of the British there were 4,000 to 8,000 native people in the Sydney area from as many as 29 different clans. Sydney Cove from
Port Jackson to
Petersham was inhabited by the
Cadigal clan. The
Eora are the coastal Aboriginals of the Sydney district. The name
Eora simply means "here" or "from this place", and was used by local Aboriginals to describe to the British where they came from. The
Cadigal band are the traditional inhabitants of the Sydney CBD area, and their territory south of Port Jackson stretched from South Head to Petersham.
Colonial settlement Sydney Cove, on which Circular Quay is located, was the site of the initial landing of the
First Fleet in
Port Jackson on 26 January 1788. The governor's temporary canvas house was erected on the east side of the cove, while the western shore became the centre of the early settlement. It was the focal point from which the city of Sydney grew. The first wharf on the shore of Sydney Cove probably dated from around 1792. In 1802 it was replaced with a timber-framed wharf called "Hospital Wharf", the first public wharf of the colony (later renamed King's Wharf and Queen's Wharf). Late 18th-century Scottish constitutional reformer
Thomas Muir was sentenced to transportation to Sydney for sedition, and had a cottage on what is now Circular Quay. Thomas Muir escaped from the colony in 1796 aboard an American brig, the
Otter. The eastern side of the cove remained largely uninhabited in the early years of the colony; one notable inhabitant was
Bennelong, after whom the adjacent
Bennelong Point and
Bennelong Apartments are named. In the early 19th century, the entire eastern shore of Circular Quay was part of
the Governor's Domain, though some commercial activity developed along the shoreline. The western shore, being adjacent to the original settlement now known as
The Rocks, was busier.
Cadman's Cottage is a building which survives from that era, built in 1816 for the use of the governmental coxswains and their crews, it marks approximately the location of Circular Quay's natural western shore, prior to reconstruction. The Commissariat Stores (built in 1809) and Australia's first naval dock were also located on the western shore. The naval dockyard was expanded in 1818–1822 under
Governor Macquarie, with four repairing docks.
Working port in 1938 Circular Quay was constructed in 1837–1844 by reconstructing the southern section of Sydney Cove with an artificial shoreline. The mouth of the
Tank Stream, which flowed into Sydney Cove at the western end of Circular Quay, was in-filled. The harbour was originally known as "Semi-Circular Quay", this being the actual shape of the quay. The name was shortened for convenience. Wharves were built on the southern shore. Reflecting Circular Quay's status as the central harbour for Sydney, the
Customs House was built on the southern shore in 1844–1845. During the construction of Circular Quay, the eastern side of the cove was used as a quarry and housed construction works. After the governor's residence was moved up the hill to the present
Government House in the 1840s and 1850s,
Macquarie Street was extended north through the Governor's Domain to
Fort Macquarie. This led to the development of the area between the street and the shore into a commercial working wharf dominated by the wool trade, while the eastern side of the street remained part of the Domain. This part of Macquarie Street became known as the "wool store" end. allowing easy transfer to ferries. Trams operated from
Central station down
Castlereagh Street to Circular Quay and back up Pitt Street in a large anti-clockwise loop. For many years, 27 regular services operated from Circular Quay. From 1936, the appearance of Circular Quay was dramatically changed with the construction of a railway viaduct, and later the elevated
Cahill Expressway above the viaduct, across the southern shore of the cove.
Circular Quay railway station was opened on 20 January 1956 and the elevated Cahill Expressway was officially opened on 24 March 1958.
Building developments The construction of the viaduct led to the demolition of the old Maritime Services Board building on the south-western shore. A replacement was constructed further north in 1940, and is today the
Museum of Contemporary Art. Further north, the Sydney Cove Passenger Terminal was built in 1958–1960 to accommodate the increasing number of passengers arriving by ship. The building was renovated in 1988, 2000 and 2014. Large liners and cruise ships often dock here, their size dominating the cove. East Circular Quay was redeveloped from the 1950s with the replacement of wool stores with modernist commercial buildings. The Sydney height limit was increased from in 1959, and a number of Sydney's first skyscrapers were built around Circular Quay. The
AMP Building on the southern shore was Sydney's tallest building when completed in 1962. In 1973, the
Sydney Opera House was completed at the northeastern end of Sydney Cove. Between 1971 and 1989, Colonial Mutual Life acquired land along Circular Quay for a large scale development. The initial design caused significant controversy around the country, including intervention by the Prime Minister,
Paul Keating, and internationally. A revised 1992 design had the developer reducing building height and providing a colonnade for public access, in exchange for the development extending further towards the foreshore. The resulting development of
Bennelong Apartments (nicknamed by critics as
The Toaster), and is criticised for its positioning and for obscuring views of the Sydney Opera House from the main pedestrian approach. In 2019, several property developments underway by the private sector in the area, including: Quay Quarter Sydney by AMP Capital, Opera Residences, One Circular Quay by Yuhu Group, Circular Quay Tower by Lendlease, and the Sandstone Hotels precinct by Pontiac Group. In addition, the Sydney Opera House is undergoing its largest renewal project since its opening. ==Transport==