Millers Point survives

It has just been announced that the name MILLERS POINT is not being changed to BARANGAROO POINT. This is a great victory for the people of Millers Point who have campaigned for this name not to be erased from history. Below are some photos and a link to the submission which explains why it was important to keep the name Millers Point.

The people of Millers Point are happy with the park’s new name of Barangaroo Reserve, and along with the rest of Sydney we are joining the celebration of Indigenous culture during its opening. Maybe the traditional name of #Ilkan Maladul‬ could be recorded alongside Barangaroo Reserve. This would be similar to neighbouring DAWES POINT also known as TAR-RA.

Here is an except from our submission to the Geographical Names Board:

‘Names matter. When a European place in Australia has held a name for almost 200 years, and its naming was based on activities that stretch back further still, then this is a name that should be respected and celebrated.

‘The NSW Government is half way through a two-year program to “relocate” all the long-term residents of Millers Point, many of whom have links to the 19th-century maritime history of Millers Point. It appears these long-term residents, their families and their histories have not so far been included in any of the material saved, celebrated and presented as the official history of Barangaroo.’

This map no longer applies. The name of the point remains Millers Point

The windmills of Millers Point were amongst the earliest landmarks of European settlement.

Looking down to Millers Point from Observatory Hill. The Lord Nelson Hotel is visible in the lower left corner, but the windmill and most of the houses were on the wrong side of Merriman Street to survive.

Kent Street runs down to the water at left, and so do other streets of Millers Point before they were cut off by Hickson Road. There was major excavation along the waters edge from Dawes Point, where the Harbour Bridge was constructed, all the way to Pyrmont Bridge, visible in the background of this photo.

Local children in the 1870s swimming in Cockle Bay at Millers Point, now part of Barangaroo.

The unveiling of Barangaroo Point at Millers Point was premature, but this stone is no longer there.