Expanding cities
Problems with the lack of adequate sewerage systems and sanitation abounded in colonial cities. In 1886, a typhoid outbreak in Balmain, Sydney, was traced to seepage from the local cemetery into a dairy's well nearby. The Victorian parliament passed the Public Health Act, establishing a department of public health with a medical inspector to supervise sanitation.
In newly built houses the backyard 'dunny' became an established feature. The structure usually backed onto a laneway where the euphemistically named 'night soil' would be removed daily by the 'dunny man'.
In August 1880, the first wooden blocks were laid down as street paving. These blocks were adopted from Europe, and were a forerunner of bitumen. Hardwood blocks the size of ordinary house bricks were used. King Street in Sydney was the first paved street in Sydney.
King Street, Sydney, looking east from George Street
(Powerhouse Museum, 85/1285-976, photograph by Henry King)
