Once known as ‘one of the most depraved areas of Sydney.’ Over the years, it’s been transformed and is now home to a family friendly park. Bin collections, parking permits, rates, development applications and reporting issues, Vision, planning, projects and consultation, Parks, pools, libraries, gyms, community centres, gardens and customer service centres, Hire a sports facility, rehearsal space, hall or meeting room, Support and funding, programs and initiatives, Lord mayor and councillors, council and committee meetings, Image: City of Sydney Archives (unique ID: A-00007700). Ruth Park talks to Surry Hills residents, c1950s (image: Fairfax) 1980s. Sydney Municipal Council is granted powers to rebuild large areas of Sydney, for street widening, and ‘cleansing’ of the inner city. All images from the NSW State Library collection unless stated otherwise. No Way! No Way! Many contemporary apartment buildings are added to the streetscape of historic terraces. By the mid-20s stone quarries, woodcutters, turf cutters and grazing stock have already dramatically altered the natural landscape. Surry Hills became a slum associated with petty crime, alcohol, gambling and domestic violence. O’Hears Steps are named after local baker James O’Hear who lived opposite at 129 Albion Street, on the future site of Crown Street hospital, until his death in 1891. Between 1895 and 1904 Frog Hollow was known as ‘one of the most depraved areas of Sydney’. One of these was Samuel ‘Jewey’ Freeman, leader of the Riley Street Gang. Its infamous neighbourhood, Frog Hollow, is known as “a haven for some of the most desperate and dangerous criminals that police could recall”. Police claimed that this enclave had bred some of the most "desperate and dangerous criminals" they had encountered. Riley Street Surry Hills. Landowners are encouraged to grow produce and set up industries. The park features an off-leash grassed area. Captain and commissary John Palmer also accepts land and creates the other main farm in the Surry Hills area. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and we extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with whom we work and with whom we share stories. Production: The Harp in the South: Part One & Part Two, The Harp in the South: Part One, The Harp in the South: Part Two. Video: Sarah Peirse on the 'magnificent and terrible' Miss Docker, Video: Connecting Refugees Through Creativity, Podcast: Christos Tsiolkas on Patrick White, News: A Life-Changing Week for Work Experience Students, Essay: A Cheery Soul Gave us a Supreme Theatrical Monster, Podcast: The Power of Song in Harp in the South, Video: A Rare Interview with Nobel Laureate Patrick White, Gallery: Creating Clouds in Accidental Death of an Anarchist, STC Technical Director Jono Perry on Transforming The Wharf, Feature: Comedy in the Face of Deadly Corruption, Q&A: Director Jessica Arthur on Mosquitoes, Audio: Tennessee Williams' Lost Recordings, Podcast: Kip Williams & Patrick McIntyre Discuss 2019 Season, Feature: A Historical Timeline of Surry Hills, Podcast: William Barton discusses the music of The Long Forgotten Dream, Video: Making the costumes for The Harp in the South, Feature: School Drama with Whalan Public School, Feature: Repatriation of Aboriginal Remains, Feature: A Very Brief History of Saint Joan, News: Patrick White Playwrights’ Award and Fellowship, Podcast: Imara Savage, Sarah Snook and John Gaden discuss Saint Joan, News: Paige Rattray appointed as STC Associate Director, News: 2017 Patrick White Playwrights’ Award Shortlist, Podcast: Audience Q&A for Black is the New White, Podcast: Lucy Kirkwood talks about The Children, News: Upgrading The Wharf on a firm new footing, Podcast: Helen Thomson, Heather Mitchell and Michelle Lim Davidson discuss Top Girls, Podcast: Emily Barclay and Jessica Arthur, Pre-season briefing: Muriel's Wedding the Musical, News: Muriel's Wedding the Musical rehearsals commence, Kip Williams introduces STC's 2018 Season, Podcast: Kip Williams discusses STC's 2018 plays, Synopsis: The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Synopsis: Accidental Death of an Anarchist, News: Gary Sweet joins Muriel's Wedding as Bill Heslop, Podcast: Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall on Muriel's Wedding, Feature: School Drama with Redfern Jarjum College, Audio: Australian Graffiti on Radio National, Feature: Meet Your Muriel – Maggie McKenna, News: Muriel's Wedding casting announcement, Podcast: Simon Phillips on Muriel's Wedding, News: Patrick White Playwrights' Award & Fellowship, Podcast: Actors Shari Sebbens and Tony Briggs, Audio: Black is the New White on ABC Radio, Feature: School Drama expands beyond the classroom, Feature: The School Drama Book launches in New York, Essay: The Pie Chart of Happiness by Patrick McIntyre, Podcast: John Preston on 38 years with STC, Feature: Timeline of journalism in the digital age, Podcast: Playwright Angus Cerini on The Bleeding Tree, Gallery: A Flea in Her Ear designs up close, Feature: 11 Fun Facts You Need to Know about Georges Feydeau, Feature: Tommy Murphy – life on The Wharf, Podcast: Kip Williams discusses STC's 2017 plays, Podcast: Designer Gabriela Tylesova talks A Flea in Her Ear, News: Asian Australian theatre company Performance 4a comes to STC, News: Interim Artistic Director announcement, Archive: STC productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Gallery: Costume sketches by Renée Mulder, News: A statement from STC and our colleagues, News: Patrick White Playwrights' Award and Fellowship, Q&A: John Howard and Kip Williams on All My Sons, News: CAST calls on Federal government to reinstate Australia Council funds, Podcast: Elizabeth Gadsby - STC Resident Designer, Feature: Gracie Otto on growing up in a family of artists, Celebrating STC Women on International Women's Day, Feature: Darren Gilshenan – an actor prepares, Podcast: Andrew Upton discusses STC's 2016 plays, Playlist: Arcadia – fall in love with chaos, Feature: The Dharug language in rehearsals, Feature: Australian writers at STC in 2016, Feature: Mike Bartlett on writing King Charles III, Playlist: Franz Schubert's Death and the Maiden, Feature: A note from playwright Sue Smith, Video: Behind the scenes with Hugo Weaving, Audio: Playwright Melissa Bubnic on Radio National, Feature: 30 Years of Theatre at the Wharf, Audio: Joanna Murray-Smith on Radio National, Feature: The Who's Who of Cyrano de Bergerac, Feature: Sarah Peirse as Patricia Highsmith, Audio: Children of the Sun on Radio National, Feature: The Who's Who of Children of the Sun, News: Lloyd Martin Travelling Scholarship, Essay: Australia-China Relations – from Opium to Ore, Feature: Anne Summers with Cate Blanchett, Playlist: Mojo - Rock 'n' Roll Inspirations, Essay: From the sublime to the ridiculous, News: STC welcomes new Education Manager John Saunders, Feature: 10 things about Romeo and Juliet, Video: The Wharf Revue performs Rudd Never Dies, Essay: Pygmalion meets the 20th century woman, Feature: Jonathan Biggins on Australia Day, Feature: Rogue petticoats and broken chairs. Email Box Office. Date posted: 27 Aug 2018Author: STC African-American troops are barred from venues in the city, but accepted into the bars and brothels of Surry Hills, because “Riley Street knew an underdog when it saw one”. Once an outlying retreat from town, its undulating landscape was now obstructed by a confusion of laneways, courts and dead-end streets packed tight with narrow terraces and weatherboard shacks.