Economic growth and population pressures resulted in more intensive settlement by the 1820s and land ownership was confirmed by a number of Crown grants in the 1830s.

[2] The decade of the 1830s marks the firm beginning of the continuum of development which ended in the 1920s and which gives Millers Point/Walsh Bay its remarkable historic character today.

[2] The residential character of the area changed during the late nineteenth century and the wealthier, who were concentrated along Argyle and Lower Fort Streets, gradually moved to more desirable suburbs with the growth of the city.

Control of the area passed to the port authority, the Sydney Harbour Trust (later the Maritime Services Board, 1936).

However, because of the quantity of housing under its control it became landlord for Millers Point and between 1900 and the 1920s effectively transformed the area into a type of "company town".

[2][4] Superseded by changing shipping technology in the 1970s, the Walsh Bay complex is believed to be the only one of its type surviving in the world.

Oregon roof trusses forming a double gable are supported on 28 by 28 centimetres (11 by 11 in) hardwood storey posts at 610-centimetre (20 ft) centres.

Wall cladding consists of 20 ft wide infill panels of hardwood weatherboards, sliding doors, glazed sashes or galvanised iron.

The system includes the accumulator, pump and electric motor, the high pressure pipes and 3 ton hydraulic lift and two hydraulic hoists and was an essential part of the operations of the wool handling wharves, supplying power to lift hoists and the original wool dumps (bale presses).

[5][2] The Walsh Bay area is of State cultural significance due to its unique combination of steep rocky terrain, early, mid, late-Victorian and Edwardian housing, surviving relatively intact Victorian bond stores, and the results of an early twentieth century urban redevelopment scheme of unique scale: the magnificent timber wharf and shore structures and associated rock cuttings, roads and bridges.

[6] The Walsh Bay Wharves and associated buildings and works are a virtually intact port and stevedoring facility created by the Sydney Harbour Trust in response to the requirements of maritime trade at the time (1900s–1910s).

[7] The wharves have a strong distinctive character created by the logical use of heavy timber construction and the regular grid layout of piles, columns, beams and infill cladding.

[7][2] Walsh Bay Wharves Precinct was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999 having satisfied the following criteria.

The Walsh Bay Wharves and their associated infrastructure are a virtually intact port and stevedore works created by the Sydney Harbour Trust in response to the requirements of maritime trade at that time.

[7][2] The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales.

The wharves have a strong distinctive character created by the logical use of heavy timber construction and the regular grid layout of piles, columns, beams and infill cladding.

[7][2] The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales.

[7][2] The place possesses uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales.