Darling Street, running along the ridge of the Balmain Peninsular in inner-west Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, from the East Balmain Ferry Wharf to Victoria Road

Victoria Road, Sydney

Victoria Road is a major road in Sydney, Australia.Victoria Road connects Parramatta with the Rozelle end of Anzac Bridge. Victoria Road passes through the Sydney suburbs of Rydalmere, Ermington, West Ryde, Ryde, Gladesville and Drummoyne and is currently one of the longest roads in Sydney.The road...

, is the main thoroughfare and high street of the suburbs of Balmain

Balmain, New South Wales

Balmain is a suburb in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Balmain is located slightly west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Leichhardt....

 and Rozelle

Rozelle, New South Wales

Rozelle is a suburb in the inner west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 4 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Leichhardt....

, and a noted café and restaurant strip.

Balmain Market is on the corner of Darling and Curtis Road.

History

In 1875, Darling Street received its first instillation of gas lighting. The effect of this was so that during the late 1880s there was an increase of business due to the increase of illumination along the shopping strip at night. Twenty years prior to this the area where the town hall is now located was occupied by bushland.

Trams

Trams once ran all the way down Darling Street to the Wharf at Balmain East. The first steam tram to service Darling street was in 1892. Ten years later the service was electrified. A feature of this line was a counterweight dummy system that controlled and assisted trams on a steep single-line section of track near the terminus at Darling Wharf. Due to the very steep incline at the bottom of the street, the trams used a complex 'dummy' counterweight system constructed under the road surface. The trams were pushed up the steep hill by the dummy, and rode the dummy on the way down to safely descend the hill.

A cross country connection between the Canterbury Line at New Canterbury Road and the Western Suburbs lines on Parramatta Road allowed for a cross country service to operate between Canterbury train station and Balmain Wharf via Darling Road. The Darling Street tram line was serviced by the Rozelle Tram Depot

Rozelle Tram Depot

The former Rozelle tram depot, located in Glebe, New South Wales, is the largest remaining tram depot in Sydney, and is one of five remaining tram depots in the state of New South Wales. It was the second largest tram depot to service the Sydney network, running at peak capacity of approximately...

in Glebe.

Gladstone Park Reservoir

Construction of the Gladstone Park Reservoir was announced in 1912 causing public outcry. The water board reassured residents that the park and bandstand would be restored to its former status once the reservoir was complete. Before construction of the reservoir residents obtained there water supply from backyard wells or water carts. Completed in 1917 the reservoir is still intact and the water is now used for reserve supply only.