Amazing photos of Sydney pubs from as early as the 1900s offer glimpse VERY different Harbour City

A series of photos of iconic Sydney pubs dating back as far as the 1900s show the radical changes the city has undergone in the last century and opens a window to a bygone era. 

The oldest photographs show the famous watering holes standing on streets that are alive with horse-drawn carriages and Sydneysiders wearing flowing full-length gowns, three-piece suits and trilby hats, while other pics reveal wide-open spaces that are now crowded with buildings.

The images have been dug out by researchers from the Australian National University where they have gathering dust in the Uni’s Noel Butlin Archives Centre. 

Archivists are working to preserve a part of Sydney’s history through the project, which features hotels and establishments owned by Tooth and Company across the city and regional New South Wales.

The company was founded in 1835  and owned and operated hundreds of hotels, pubs and breweries across New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory from Wagga Wagga to Goulburn and Newcastle. 

The pub empire is now run by Carlton and United Breweries after being sold in 1983.

Among some of the most iconic pubs are the Golden Sheaf in Double Bay, the Burdekin Hotel in Darlinghurst, the Hotel Canterbury, the Australian Hotel in Sydney’s CBD, and the Vauxhall Inn in Granville.

While some of the pubs look dramatically different today, others look like they haven’t changed at all since they were first built – even though their surroundings are almost unrecognisable. 

Archivist Rachel Armstrong told Daily Mail Australia the photos tell a story about what life looked like 100 years ago. 

‘We see the architecture and design of hotels change significantly through the decades, usually to reflect the popular styles of the time,’ she said.  

‘It was common for hotels to include a balcony or verandah as part of their original design in the 1800s and early 1900s and then common for these to be removed as the hotel was renovated in later decades. We also see the addition of modern features such as bottle shops attached to hotels in later years.’

Ms Armstrong said people give people a chance to take a walk down memory lane and revisit a time before the city’s streets emptied with the introduction of lockout laws.

‘Whenever we post images of Tooth hotels on our social media accounts we receive a huge response, with many people commenting about their family’s ownership of a particular hotel or the fact that they always used to drink at a particular hotel when they lived or worked in the area,’ she said.