Brewing coffee and ideas
‘Up in Rowe Street, Sydney, there is a café that has become the rendezvous of student artists and poets – the self-styled ‘avant garde’ of the arts.’
SMH, 17.12.49
Lincoln Coffee Lounge & Café, Rowe Street, Sydney, photographed by Brian Bird (Source: State Library of New South Wales)
In mid-20th century Sydney, the notorious Lincoln Coffee Lounge was a haven for artists, rebels and bohemians. This underground café was the unofficial birthplace of the Sydney Push, a group of libertarians who opposed authoritarianism and were notorious for their political jousting against a backdrop of raucous gatherings.
‘No one seems to know exactly why they started to congregate there; they aren’t even sure themselves.’
SMH, 17.12.49
Images of the Lincoln: Lincoln Coffee Lounge & Café, Rowe Street, Sydney, photographed by Brian Bird (Source: State Library of New South Wales)
Located on Rowe Street in the heart of Bohemian Sydney, the Lincoln was surrounded by tea rooms and bars, bookshops that sold censored literature, and boutiques selling French-inspired fashions.
While the coffee shops and boutiques, have long been replaced by offices and skyscrapers, a small remnant of Rowe Street still exists, tucked between Pitt and Castlereagh Streets in the CBD.
‘Oh yes… it is ze old Montmartre.’
SMH, 17.12.49
Image: A-00036966 Print – Rowe Street Sydney, 1920 (20/01/1920), [A-00036966]. (Source: City of Sydney Archives)
Sydney is a city of layered and sometimes forgotten or hidden histories. Stories that reveal the human experiences behind the history-making events and developments of the city can be found around every corner, and these tales of humour and heartbreak are the connecting threads between the past and the present.
Through interpretation, design and placemaking, Curio Projects is committed to creating a world where the past is not only remembered but explored.
