Walsh Bay is a bay within Port Jackson, about 1,000 metres south of the suburb McMahons Point. It is named after Henry Deane Walsh, Engineer-in-chief of the Sydney Harbour Trust. Walsh Bay is officially defined as that body of water that stretches from the Dawes Point in the north east, to the Millers Point in the southwest and the original shoreline has been altered to include developments now known as Piers 1 to 9.
In more recent times, Walsh Bay refers to the Walsh Bay Wharves Precinct or the Walsh Bay Arts Precinct, a harbour-side area in Sydney, located next to the neighbouring suburbs of Dawes Point and Millers Point that historically was a working port. The wharves were converted to apartments, theatres, restaurants, cafes and a hotel, and in 2015 was designated as a major arts precinct. Much of the precinct is listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register.
The bay was first named in 1918 on drawings of a major new ‘wharfage scheme’ to modernise all Sydney’s docks to handle steamships and motor vehicles. The rejuvenation was planned by Henry Deane Walsh as engineer-in-chief of the Sydney Harbour Trust.