GEORGE STREET
1890

Photograph Courtesy of Royal Australian Historical Society

Horse drawn vehicles throng George Street, from passenger cabs to delivery wagons. At the right, a wagon laden with wool heads for Circular Quay. To its left is a horse bus, with slatted seats on top, enabling passengers to sit and enjoy the sunshine. To the left of the photo, outside Watt's Dispensary, a "sparrow-starver" goes about his job - sweeping and collecting manure from the roadway. Horses remained a common form of transport until well into the next century and George Street was the city's main commercial artery. An English writer said of George Street at the time of this photo:

"From early dawn till midnight a ceaseless traffic passes and during business hours the crush of foot-passengers on the pavements, bears a close resemblance to the scenes characteristic of the capital of the mother country. Sometimes, there may be, to some tastes, a little too much sun."

*Cassell's Picturesque Australasia - 1889.

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