Pyrmont () is an inner-city suburb of
Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
, in the state of
New South Wales
New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
2 kilometres south-west of the
Sydney central business district
The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main Central business district, commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or ...
in the
local government area
A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...
of the
City of Sydney
The City of Sydney is the Local government in Australia, local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the Greater Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament ...
. It is also part of the
Darling Harbour
Darling Harbour is a harbour and neighborhood adjacent to the city centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, that is made up of a large recreational and pedestrian precinct that is situated on western outskirts of the Sydney central busines ...
region.
Aboriginal culture
Before European settlement the Eora tribe of Indigenous Australians inhabited the area. Their Aboriginal name for this area was 'Pirrama', which is still the name of a road on the Pyrmont waterfront.
Pyrmont was once a vital component of Sydney's industrial waterfront, with
wharves
A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths ( ...
,
shipbuilding yards, factories and woolstores. As industry moved out, the population and the area declined. In recent years it has experienced redevelopment with an influx of residents and office workers.
History
The name of the area in the indigenous
Dharug language
The Dharug language, also spelt Darug, Dharuk, and other variants, and also known as the Sydney language, Gadigal language ( Sydney city area), is an Australian Aboriginal language of the Yuin–Kuric group that was traditionally spoken in th ...
is Pirrama.
Pyrmont contained a
mineral spring
Mineral springs are naturally occurring springs that produce hard water, water that contains dissolved minerals. Salts, sulfur compounds, and gases are among the substances that can be dissolved in the spring water during its passage un ...
of cold water bubbling out of a rock and was thus named for a similar natural spring in
Bad Pyrmont
Bad Pyrmont (, also: ; West Low German: ) is a town in the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont, in Lower Saxony, Germany, with a population close to 19,000. It is located on the river Emmer (Weser), Emmer, about west of the Weser. Bad Pyrmont is a popul ...
, close to
Hanover
Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
. Thomas Jones was granted of land on the peninsula in 1795. Land was sold to Obadiah Ikin in 1796 for 10 pounds, which he then sold to Captain
John Macarthur in 1799 for a gallon of rum.
Pyrmont was the site of
quarries
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to manage their safet ...
from a fairly early stage because of the quality of the
sandstone
Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
. Charles Saunders, licensee of the Quarryman's Arms hotel, became the biggest quarrymaster, with three quarries established in the area from 1853. The work was continued by his son and grandson till circa 1931. The quarries were nicknamed Paradise, Purgatory and Hell Hole by the Scottish workers employed by Saunders. Steam-powered equipment was used there for the first time in Australia. The sandstone was used in many of the most significant buildings in Sydney. Saunders Street, near the site of the Paradise quarry, was named after Saunders.
The area was also the site of the first Presbyterian Church in the colony, built in 1864 and situated in Mount Street. The congregation eventually outgrew the premises and had to move to a new church at Quarry Street, Ultimo, in 1883. In the 1870s, a small Methodist chapel was built in
Harris Street on land owned by Charles Saunders. In the 1920s, it was converted to the Maybanke Free Kindergarten, named after
Maybanke Anderson
Maybanke Susannah Anderson (née Selfe and also known as Maybanke Wolstenholme; 16 February 1845 – 15 April 1927) was an Australian suffragist and education reformer involved in Women's suffrage in Australia, women's suffrage, Federation of ...
, a feminist and educationist. It was still used for that purpose as of 2018.
Pyrmont became a working class industrial and port community. A major sugar refinery was operated by
CSR Limited
CSR Pty Ltd is a major Australian industrial company, producing building products and has a 25% share in the Tomago aluminium smelter located near Newcastle, New South Wales. It is a subsidiary of Compagnie de Saint-Gobain S.A. In 2021, it h ...
. In 1900 the area had a population of around 30,000.
The first Pyrmont Bridge opened in 1858. A larger bridge with a swinging span opened in 1902, but was closed to traffic in the 1980s. It was subsequently turned into a pedestrian precinct. In 1973, a public meeting held between residents of Pyrmont and
Ultimo asked the
Builders Labourers Federation imposed a
green ban on the
North Western Expressway to save much of the suburb.
The
Sydney Fish Market
The Sydney Fish Market is a fish market in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The market sits on the Blackwattle Bay foreshore in Pyrmont, New South Wales, Pyrmont, 2 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district. It is the world's thi ...
was opened in Pyrmont in 1966. As of 2025, the market is undergoing redevelopment to create a new, state-of-the-art facility at the same site.
Decay
Pyrmont was regarded as a slum area in the late 19th century. It started to decay seriously after World War II, when industries closed down, and the residents moved to the suburbs. In 1963, the Ultimo Powerhouse closed down as well. Its population declined to only 1,800 by 1978.
[Bounds, Michael and Morris, Alan: ''High-rise gentrification: the redevelopment of Pyrmont Ultimo'', in Urban Design International, nr.10, 2005]
By 1990, the population had dropped to around 900.
Redevelopment in the 1990s
In order to rejuvenate the area the government initiated the Better Cities Program. In 1992 the City West Development Corporation had been created with the mission to renew the precinct. In 1999 this responsibility has been transferred to the
Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority
Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority (SHFA) was a statutory authority that owned and managed some of the Government of New South Wales most significant Sydney harbour foreshore assets, including Sydney, Sydney's heritage and cultural precincts at ...
.
This led to a larger community of 13,000 by 2004 and also an increase of trade with businesses moving back into the area, totalling 22,000 employees.
Almost all industrial function is gone from the area now, replaced by low and high-rise residential developments. The sugar refinery closed down and some of the buildings, including The Cooperage and Tablet House, were restored as residential and office space. Both are listed on the local government heritage register.
Following the redevelopment the suburb became more multicultural, with only 35% of residents born in Australia, followed by 8% born in China.
Landmarks
Pyrmont Fire Station in Pyrmont Street is designed by the Government Architect,
Walter Liberty Vernon
Colonel (Australia), Colonel Walter Liberty Vernon (11 August 184617 January 1914) was an English people, English architect who migrated to Australia and pursued his career as an architect in Sydney, New South Wales. In his role as the New Sou ...
, in 1907. It is an example of the Federation Free Style, predominantly made of brick with sandstone trimmings, and with
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...
elements. It is now on the (now defunct)
Register of the National Estate
The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heri ...
.
[The Heritage of Australia, Macmillan Company, 1981, p.2/88]
The public school in John Street was designed by W.E.Kemp and built in 1891; a brick building, it features a bell tower, belfry and slate roof, and is on the defunct Register of the National Estate.
As of 2015, the building is used by a childcare and the Pyrmont Community Center.
Union Square is a major heritage precinct. It includes the Post Office in Harris Street,
The Harlequin Inn pub, two bank buildings in Union Street, the homes from 4-20 Union Street, all buildings from 99 to 125 Harris Street, the terrace from 135 to 141 Harris Street and terraces from 1-21 Paternoster Row. All of these buildings are listed on the defunct Register of the National Estate. Also on the defunct Register is the Waite and Bull building at 137 Pyrmont Bridge Road.
Heritage listings

Pyrmont has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
* 148 Harris Street:
Pyrmont Post Office
* Bank Street, Victoria Road:
Glebe Island Bridge
The Glebe Island Bridge is a heritage-listed disused swing Allan truss road bridge that carried Victoria Road (as Bank Street) across Johnstons Bay, located in the inner city Sydney suburb of Pyrmont, New South Wales, Australia. The br ...
* 1, 3, 5 Cross Street:
Old Pyrmont Cottages
* Metropolitan goods railway:
Pyrmont and Glebe Railway Tunnels
* 38-42 Pirrama Road:
Royal Edward Victualling Yard
Commercial areas
The Star casino dominates the Darling Harbour waterfront of Pyrmont and the
Sydney Fish Market
The Sydney Fish Market is a fish market in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The market sits on the Blackwattle Bay foreshore in Pyrmont, New South Wales, Pyrmont, 2 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district. It is the world's thi ...
is located on
Blackwattle Bay.
Jacksons Landing is a residential and commercial property development located on the northern part of the peninsula.
Pyrmont is home to the headquarters of several corporations including
Vodafone
Vodafone Group Public Limited Company () is a British Multinational company, multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates Service (economic ...
,
Accenture
Accenture plc is a global multinational professional services company originating in the United States and headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, that specializes in information technology (IT) services and management consulting. It was founded in 1 ...
Australia,
Network 10
Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's UK & Australia division and is one of the five national free-to-a ...
,
Google
Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
and radio stations
Nova 96.9,
Smooth 95.3, and
2SM
2SM is an Australian radio station, licensed to and serving Sydney, broadcasting on 1269 kilohertz on the AM band. It is owned and operated by Broadcast Operations Group. The SM call sign is taken from the initials of Saint Mary's.
2SM's prog ...
. Pyrmont is the former home to
Seven West Media
Seven West Media Limited is an Australian ASX-listed media company. It is Australia's largest diversified media business, with an extensive presence in broadcast television, radio, print and online publishing.
Seven West Media owns the Seve ...
(moved to Australian Technology Park at Eveleigh in 2017) and
2GB (moved to North Sydney in 2020).
File:Sydney Tower looking towards Darling Harbour and Pyrmont - panoramio.jpg, View of Pyrmont from Sydney Tower
File:The Star Casino - Vivid Sydney 2015.jpg, The Star during Vivid Sydney 2015
Demographics
At the , 12,658 people were living in Pyrmont.
In the 2016 census, there were 12,813 people in Pyrmont.
In 2021, 40.7% of people were born in Australia. The other most common countries of birth were China 6.2%, England 4.2%, India 4.0%, Thailand 2.5% and New Zealand 2.2%. 52.6% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 6.9%, Cantonese 4.3%, Spanish 3.3%, Thai 2.6% and Indonesian 1.6%. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 43.6% and Catholic 18.6%. 93.7% of dwellings were flats, units or apartments and 5.7% are semi-detached terraced houses or townhouses.
Transport
Road transport
Pyrmont is linked to the city by the
Pyrmont Bridge
The Pyrmont Bridge, a heritage-listed swing bridge across Cockle Bay, is located in Darling Harbour, part of Port Jackson, west of the central business district in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. Opened ...
, a swing bridge for pedestrians and cyclists. The
Western Distributor passes through the suburb and provides a connection to the city and then to the
North Shore via the
Sydney Harbour Bridge
The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North ...
. The Distributor includes the
Anzac Bridge
The Anzac Bridge is an eight-lane cable-stayed bridge that carries the Western Distributor (A4) across Johnstons Bay between Pyrmont and Glebe Island (part of the suburb of Rozelle), on the western fringe of the Sydney central business dis ...
, a large
cable-stayed bridge
A cable-stayed bridge has one or more ''towers'' (or ''pylons''), from which wire rope, cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or wikt:stay#Etymology 3, stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, norm ...
spanning Johnstons Bay between Pyrmont and
Rozelle, which replaced the
Glebe Island Bridge
The Glebe Island Bridge is a heritage-listed disused swing Allan truss road bridge that carried Victoria Road (as Bank Street) across Johnstons Bay, located in the inner city Sydney suburb of Pyrmont, New South Wales, Australia. The br ...
.
Light rail
The
Inner West Light Rail
The Inner West Light Rail is a light rail line in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, running from Central railway station, Sydney, Central railway station through the Inner West to Dulwich Hill railway station, Dulwich Hill and serving 23 sto ...
includes five light rail stops in the suburb - Pyrmont Bay, The Star, John Street Square, Fish Market and Wentworth Park. The
Pyrmont Bay ferry wharf is served by
Pyrmont Bay ferry services. Pyrmont is also served by buses.
Pyrmont was served by the
former Sydney tramway network. Services commenced at Railway Square, travelling southwest on Broadway, turning right onto Harris Street, passing the former Darling Harbour Goods Yard. At Pyrmont a separate line branched off from the main line on Harris Street, turning left into Miller Street, turning right into Bank Street, crossing the former Glebe Island Bridge. It then travelled along Commercial Road turning right onto Victoria Road, then right onto Darling Street, terminating at the Darling Street wharf. The tram lines closed in 1958. The
Sydney Monorail
The Sydney Monorail (originally TNT Harbourlink and later Metro Monorail) was a single-loop monorail in Sydney, that connected Darling Harbour, Chinatown, Sydney, Chinatown and the Sydney central business district, Sydney central business and s ...
ran between the city and nearby Darling Harbour across the Pyrmont Bridge between 1988 and 2013.
Heavy rail
Pyrmont is a future rapid transit station that will be built as part of the
Sydney Metro West project.
Parks
St Bartholomew's Park is a small park on the corner of Bowman Street and Cross Street, created in 1954 after the demolition of numbers 113-115 Bowman Street. The park is named after St Bartholomew's Church which once stood nearby on Point Street (now a block of apartments at 22 Point Street).
Pirrama Park (previous known as Pyrmont Point Park) is located in the northern tip of the peninsula, overlooking
Balmain East, and extends southwest along the coast to
Elizabeth Macarthur Bay and the beginning of Harris Street, along Pirrama Road. The land was previously a base for the Water Police; the City of Sydney acquired it in 2005 and developed the area into a 1.8ha recreational space, with cafes, barbeque facilities and children's play equipment.
Giba Park sits atop the cliff overlooking Pirrama Park.
Waterfront Park is near the western extreme of the suburb, near the
Glebe Island Bridge
The Glebe Island Bridge is a heritage-listed disused swing Allan truss road bridge that carried Victoria Road (as Bank Street) across Johnstons Bay, located in the inner city Sydney suburb of Pyrmont, New South Wales, Australia. The br ...
.
Other parks in Pyrmont include
The Knoll,
Carmichael Park,
Jones Street Pocket Park,
Ballaarat Park,
Metcalfe Park,
Pyrmont Bay Park,
Bank Street Foreshore Park, and
Refinery Square.
Gallery
File:Pyrmont Public School.JPG, Pyrmont Public School, John Street
File:(1)Pyrmont Fire Station-1.jpg, Pyrmont Fire Station, Pyrmont Street
File:(1)Saunders Quarry-1.jpg, Charles Saunders's Paradise Quarry near Saunders Street
File:Pyrmont Square.JPG, Union Square
File:Sydney fish market.JPG, Sydney Fish Market
The Sydney Fish Market is a fish market in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The market sits on the Blackwattle Bay foreshore in Pyrmont, New South Wales, Pyrmont, 2 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district. It is the world's thi ...
s
File:Darling Harbour, 1900.jpg, Pyrmont Bridge 1900
File:Pyrmont Wharves.JPG, Pyrmont wharves
File:Prymont apartments.jpg, New apartments in Pyrmont
File:Pyrmont Power Station 1992.jpg, Pyrmont Power Station (chimneys removed)
File:SAM 0737.JPG, Pyrmont end of ANZAC Bridge, rest area where bicycle/pedestrian ramp joins the bridge from Quarry Master Drive (between Bank St and Saunders St).
File:Harris Street sandstone terrace houses.jpg , Sandstone terrace houses on Harris Street
References
External links
Pyrmont Suburb Profile
Pyrmont History GroupPowerhouse Museums
City of Sydney Historical Walking Tour Map of Pyrmont
*
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