Birthplace can mean a beginning for one people and a loss for another. Before starting The Rocks story with convicts and settlers, it's worth naming who was here first.
Warrane and Tallawoladah
Before European settlement, this area belonged to the Gadigal (Cadigal) people Fact. What is now Circular Quay was Warrane, and The Rocks area was Tallawoladah Fact. The Rocks Discovery Museum names its pre-1788 exhibit "Warrane," drawn straight from that Aboriginal place name.
A free museum, four eras
The Rocks Discovery Museum, housed in a converted 1850s sandstone warehouse, is free and covers four eras in its permanent exhibition: Warrane (pre-1788), Colony (1788-1820), Port (1820-1900), and Change (1900-present) Fact. It was developed with the Metropolitan Aboriginal Land Council Fact. Some artifacts can be handled directly, and it makes a good starting point for the walk.
A double birthplace
The story of The Rocks as "where Sydney began" is only the settler side of the story. The same ground is also where Gadigal people lost land. This series names that double meaning honestly in its first layer — the opening line of a displacement pattern that recurs later.