Maritime Mosman

Discovering the people, places, and sea-going vessels.

Mosman’s 24 kilometres of coastline, extending from Port Jackson to Middle Harbour, features 13 headlands, secluded beaches, tranquil bays, and rocky sandstone outcrops, crowned by wooded bushland.

From the 1830s, the picturesque foreshores attracted visitors seeking to pitch camps, picnic, fish, and sail. These day-trippers became permanent residents who ‘took to the waters,’ establishing rowing and sailing clubs, boatsheds, hosting regattas and creating maritime milestones.

Photographs, boat plans, ephemera, and ship models reveal Mosman’s amazing maritime stories. From the ferries, the marine architects, the locals who started the Sydney to Hobart race to the disasters of The Dunbar and The Rodney, the wartime midget subs, and the Hollywood and Mothball fleets, this exhibition will reveal Mosman’s maritime legends.

Free exhibition, on view Tuesday 22 April until Sunday 18 May, library open hours.

Mosman’s Bay Sydney Harbour, by A H Fullwood.