Amazing unknown history of Manly’s famous wharf
FROM to the bubonic plague in 1900 which saw some of it demolished, to fires, to the old paddle steamers and hydrofoils, much has changed at Manly Wharf since 1887.
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IT’S not hard to spot what’s changed at Manly Wharf since 1887 — everything.
In fact, the wharf has undergone numerous changes over the past 130 years, some planned and some not.
The first wharf was built in 1855 and a daily ferry service was operating by 1857.
The wharf was extended in the 1860s, when it was lengthened by 15m, and again in 1883 to accommodate the ferry, Brighton.
The photo taken in 1887 was not long after the second extension of the wharf.
Parts of the wharf had to be demolished in 1900 after the bubonic plague was detected in Manly but improvements to the wharf were made in 1907, 1908, 1911 and 1916, by which time the wharf was 75m long.
A fire damaged part of the wharf in August 1939, including the clock tower, which had been added in 1916.
During the 1940s more shops were added around the concourse of the wharf, extending the wharf’s curved facade.
The wharf has continued to be modified over the years, sometimes to accommodate newer or different types of vessels, such as the hydrofoils and jetcats, or to install hydraulic gangways, and sometimes to increase the number of businesses.
And more businesses are to come, with approval having been granted for two restaurants on a second storey.
And the ferries have changed as much as the wharf. In 1887 the ferries that berthed on the eastern side of the wharf were paddle-steamers whereas today they are twin-hulled ferries that make the trip to the city in half the time.