Macquarie Place Park, along with Hyde Park is the oldest park in the Sydney area, although over time its size has condensed as the city developed and grew around it. Now, Macquarie Place is a small triangular shaped park in the centre of Sydney. You can visit it at the corner of Bridge Street and Loftus Street, in the central business district of Sydney.
The park is named after Governor Lachlan Macquarie and was established in 1810. At this time it took the role of town square, but now it is simply a historical rest area for office workers seeking space outside of their buildings for a break. The progression of Macquarie Place is significant to the development of Sydney city, from a small colonisation, to an impressive and beautiful world-city. In only two hundred years, Sydney has completely changed in style and environment, and the view from Macquarie Place Park in the early 1800's is not the same as it is today.
A historical obelisk structure, which was created in 1818, resides in Macquarie Place Park and provides details of the distance to various locations in New South Wales, along the earliest roads developed in the colony.
An anchor from the Norfolk Island wreckage of the First Fleet flagship, HMS Sirius is also located in the park, along with a cannon from the same ship. Macquarie Place Park may be small, and not have the same importance it did back in 1810, but in this small space, great history of the nation has been recorded.
Macquarie Place features some notable buildings, including Australia's first bank, which was built in the space during 1817. At the time this was called The Bank of New South Wales, but now it is known as Westpac. During the early 1800's the
State Library also had an establishment here, along with other government and national institutions.
