Located approximately 3 km’s North of Sydney’s CBD and covers an area of approximately 0.3 km².
Transport in and out of the peninsula no longer includes the cable tramway which ceased operating in 1933. People now use the ferry for harbour ferry services, the railway (from Waverton, North Sydney and Milson's Point) on the North Shore line of the City Rail network, and buses with one local route (265) terminating at McMahons Point ferry wharf. Only a short walk up the hill is North Sydney station and access to a network of buses.
Originally known for its boatbuilding and repair industry from the late 1800s, McMahons Point is now a place of luxury residential dwellings and quaint shops with superb views to the harbour and the city of Sydney.
The larger area of the peninsula became known as McMahons Point in honour of Michael McMahon, a local politician and businessman, who advocated such infrastructure as water supply, ferry services and trams. From the 1860s, McMahon had made the north shore of Sydney his home.
Throughout the early 1900’s, the need for more residential redevelopment helped sweep away any remnant of the early ferry trade and boat builders that dotted the foreshores. In the late 1950s, much of McMahons Point was to be rezoned as 'waterfront industrial' by North Sydney Council, but a group formed by residents and architects, led by Harry Seidler, argued for a residential vision. As North Sydney already had gas works, oil storage depots, boatbuilding yards and ferry wharves, it was assumed that continuation and extension of this activity would be readily accepted by the local council and residents. This was not the case where it concerned the residential areas of the point, and objections were lodged by North Sydney Council. With support from residential groups, such as the McMahons Point/Lavender Bay Progress Association, the decision was eventually overturned.
As a result, Seidler proposed a 29-building apartment development in gardens. This redevelopment was in turn opposed by a new council and residents; only two towers were built – the Blues Point Tower, built on the site of a former mansion owned by a gold-mining magnate and Harbour Master. Interestingly, Blues Point Tower was never meant to stand alone. Seidler intended it to be only the first stage of a grand vision for the entire McMahons Point peninsula, with seven or eight towers similar to the existing one occupying the ridgeline along the top of McMahons Point. Below them on the slopes would have been 10 or more medium-rise apartment blocks, with several low-rise occupying the foreshore.
Nonetheless, fortunately, many of McMahons Point’s older workers' cottages and Victorian terrace houses have survived, and have been upgraded as part of the gentrification of the peninsula. In the late twentieth century, McMahons Point appealed to those who could afford to purchase, restore and preserve these earlier dwellings. It is now a conservation area under North Sydney Council's Local Environment Plan 2001.
Instead of finding the boatbuilding relics of yesteryear, you can stroll along the foreshores and enjoy the various parks and grassed areas such as Blues Point Reserve and Sawmillers Reserve.
References
Wikipedia
Dictionary of Sydney
North Sydney Council
Mosman Council
www.sydney.com
Trip Advisor
www.kirribilli.org.au/
www.weekendnotes.com
sydney travellers guide
