Susannah Place Museum is located in the heart of The Rocks and is a rare surviving example of a simple working-class terrace. It was built in 1844, by Irish immigrants and was home to over 100 different families, continuously occupied until 1990. This museum tells the stories of the lives of working class people as well as the neighbourhood in which they lived, played, and worked.
The museum has managed to re-create the lives of individual families of the 19th and 20th centuries, through ongoing research, photographs from public and private collections, and oral history interviews.
The story of Susannah Place is of shared history of four houses that existed side by side. Everyone knew everyone's business.
The 20th century slowly ate at this 'social web.' first with the bubonic plague of 1900, then by the demolition of many houses, and finally with the 1970s plan to redevelop the area at the expense of the remaining old buildings.
Our homes are our private spaces where we express something of who we are. The past occupancy of the 100s of residents who lived at Susannah Place is still very much evident in the many layers of wallpaper, paint, floor coverings, alterations and repairs that have survived.
Each of the houses has six rooms with toilet, laundry and washing facilities located in the backyards. They are set in a similar layout, but still each of the four houses has its own unique character reflecting the changing needs and uses of successive families.
It is all in the details: a coat of paint, the installation of electric light, some repairs on doors, the nails in the walls for hanging pictures and the marks of where furniture once stood all give a glimpse into the lives of past tenants, the fashion of the eras in which they lived and most significantly their desire to make these spaces their own.
Don’t miss your chance to enjoy a
Single Entry at the
Susannah Place Museum - only one of the attractions included in the
Sydney Unlimited Attractions Pass
Purchase yours today and get to see the most of Sydney!
Susannah Place Museum is located in the heart of The Rocks and is a rare surviving example of a simple working-class terrace. It was built in 1844, by Irish immigrants and was home to over 100 different families, continuously occupied until 1990. This museum tells the stories of the lives of working class people as well as the neighbourhood in which they lived, played, and worked.
The museum has managed to re-create the lives of individual families of the 19th and 20th centuries, through ongoing research, photographs from public and private collections, and oral history interviews.
The story of Susannah Place is of shared history of four houses that existed side by side. Everyone knew everyone's business.
The 20th century slowly ate at this 'social web.' first with the bubonic plague of 1900, then by the demolition of many houses, and finally with the 1970s plan to redevelop the area at the expense of the remaining old buildings.
Our homes are our private spaces where we express something of who we are. The past occupancy of the 100s of residents who lived at Susannah Place is still very much evident in the many layers of wallpaper, paint, floor coverings, alterations and repairs that have survived.
Each of the houses has six rooms with toilet, laundry and washing facilities located in the backyards. They are set in a similar layout, but still each of the four houses has its own unique character reflecting the changing needs and uses of successive families.
It is all in the details: a coat of paint, the installation of electric light, some repairs on doors, the nails in the walls for hanging pictures and the marks of where furniture once stood all give a glimpse into the lives of past tenants, the fashion of the eras in which they lived and most significantly their desire to make these spaces their own.
Don’t miss your chance to enjoy a Single Entry at the Susannah Place Museum - only one of the attractions included in the Sydney Unlimited Attractions Pass
Purchase yours today and get to see the most of Sydney!
