150 Years of the City of Ryde

In November 2020, the City of Ryde will celebrated its birthday - its sesquicentenary - which is the 150th anniversary of its formation as a council in November 1870. 

For a birthday we would have loved to invite everyone to a party but in these coronavirus (COVID-19) times, that party was held online instead.

You will be able to find out what has made us who we are by exploring our history and development through an online exhibition of 150 photos and objects. Arranged in three categories of People, Places and Progress, it will bring together items from the collection of Ryde Library as well as the Ryde District Historical Society and provide an immersion into Ryde's history, which will be informative, endearing and, we hope, entertaining.

Explore a time when Ryde was known for its market gardens, orchards and poultry farms; when you could build an aeroplane in your backyard; when children made billy carts from old fruit boxes and when Council developed an innovative post-World War II housing scheme. We will also be sharing lots of great resources and moments from our history.