Among items to go on show, many for the first time, is the earliest surviving film footage of Sydney and the first map of the city prepared by the council in 1845 showing scant streets and a handful of suburbs. Even then the "state of the roads was a source of constant complaint".

The earliest film, called Patineur Grotesque, perhaps surprisingly doesn't show the first aldermen in ermine-trimmed robes. It features a burlesque roller-skater entertaining a gathering crowd at Prince Alfred Park. The National Film and Sound Archives says the film is a forerunner to the work of Charlie Chaplin.

Council has also produced a 30-second animation that shows the metamorphosis of a cluster of buildings in 1788 evolving into today's cityscape with expansion and an increasing number of buildings climbing heavenwards. It was completed before the arrival of the Barangaroo skyscrapers.

Don't envisage in days gone by near-empty streets with the infrequent passing of a carriage. Records show in George Street near to Town Hall that daily the number of horse-drawn vehicles passing by in July 1886 was 10,960 - some vehicles were a coach and pair and the total number of horses passing totalled 19,776. Nature takes its course and by the 1890s, a brigade of boys was employed removing the daily mountain of horse dung, ducking in and out of the traffic. A "block boy" was assigned a city block to keep clean, hence his official title. The boys were also referred to as the "horse dung brigade" and the "sparrow starvers". At the end of World War I, there were more than 200 block boys employed on the city streets.

Then there were the gully flushers. The gullies were flushed with water by boys, and labourers removing dirt, dead animals and other rubbish that blocked the drains. And, as the figures show, there were plenty of dead animals. The Inspector of Nuisances in 1875 recorded 18,758 dead animals removed from the streets. Fowls, dogs, cats, goats and rats made up most of the numbers. Tonnes of rubbish in 1913 were taken away on punts and dumped at sea. The only problem - it returned, washed up on Sydney's pristine beaches.

Buckles Wharf, which operated from Darling Harbour, had the contract to dispose of the city's garbage out to sea from about 1912. Protests against the practice were gaining publicity. Bondi Beach was described by one local resident in 1913 as "filthy, with vegetable debris, straw, animals' refuse, bagging, articles of clothing, matting, baskets, tins, and bottles being cast up from the sea". There was public outcry in 1929 when spring tides washed up assorted debris, including rats and butchers' offal, onto city beaches. This method of garbage disposal ceased in 1932.

Photo: City of Sydney 1845

City historian Dr Lisa Murray tells evocatively of the growth of nightlife in the city in the late 19th century with thriving theatres and pubs but until the arrival of electric street lighting the gas lamps would be turned off if there was a full moon. She said: "The gas was a flickering sort of light that only extended a very short range. We can imagine a city with many shadows and many dark nights. All it needed was an overcast night and suddenly Sydney becomes pitch black.

"Imagine in the 19th century all the smoke and smells that were around. Most businesses got the power for their machines from steam power, which means boilers using coal. There were lots of chimneys belching smoke all the time. You had to be careful which way the wind was blowing if you were going to put your washing out. There were smells from the slaughterhouses and the fat burners. They had been excluded from the city in the 1850s down to Redfern, Waterloo and Alexandria but the thing was we have prevailing southerly winds so people in the city would still get the smells."

But things did get better. Improved rubbish disposal and public conveniences were soon to arrive. Councillors were able to choose from catalogues of men's urinals. One of the original cast-iron urinals is still in service on George Street North under the Sydney Harbour Bridge. A map of 1934 shows the distribution of public lavatories - there were more facilities for men than women so even then there would have been a queue for the ladies. There were also catalogues to browse for drinking fountains and innovative electric street lamps.

The City of Sydney Incorporation Act was passed on July 20, 1842, and set up the mechanism for the election of civic leaders on November 1 of that year and charged the municipal council with governing the growing township. The right to vote was limited to men with a freehold valued at ??200 or a householder paying rent of ??20 per year, both considerable sums. The first female alderman didn't arrive on the scene until 1965 with the election of Joan Pilone. The press made much of the fact there were no "facilities" for female aldermen in that male-dominated bastion.

Then, as now, there were a few scandals along the way. John Hosking, the first mayor of Sydney, was forced to resign after a year when his largest creditor, the Bank of Australia, collapsed following a period of severe drought and a financial crisis in Britain. The entire council was sacked on two occasions.

The anniversary is marked by the exhibition Our City: 175 Years in 175 Objects. "So much has changed since Sydney's first councillors were elected in 1842," lord mayor Clover Moore said. From the very first map completed by council in 1845 to today's open data sets, historical jobs like the Inspector of Nuisances and the earliest surviving film footage of Australia, there's so much we can learn from our city's rich history.

"I look forward to celebrating and reflecting on the city council's legacy of service, governance and leadership."

What's on...

The exhibition from October 27 to November 12 at Sydney Town Hall features civic and social history, events, people and places dating from 1842 to 2017. The city's historians, curators and archivists will give talks sharing highlights of the exhibition. Details of times and topics are available at whatson.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au

An organ recital of a composition specially created to celebrate the magnificence of Sydney Town Hall's 19th century grand organ takes place on Sunday November 5, 2017, at 4.30pm.

Curated by the city's archives, history and curatorial teams, the exhibition falls within the anniversary dates of the first election of councillors on November 1, 1842, and the inaugural meeting of council on November 9, 1842. The exhibition will cover four overarching themes: building, governing, working and inspiring.

165 - Number of gas lamps in the city in March 1843.

110 - Tonnes of rubbish burnt in four furnaces each 16-hour day at the Pyrmont Refuse Incinerator.

10 years - Time in The Sydney Slaughter Houses Act 1849 given to tanneries, fellmongeries, wool scourers, abattoirs, boiling-down works and soap factories to move outside the city boundary.

9000 - Number of rats destroyed during the plague in one week in March 1900.

150-foot (45.7 metres) - Height limit for buildings in Sydney set in 1912, and removed in 1957 when buildings began to pierce the skyline.

26 storeys - Height of the AMP building at Circular Quay completed in 1962. It became a symbol of modernity.

6d - Sixpence was the fee in the new parking meters introduced in October 1956.

40 years - Time Rosie Shaw worked a flower seller in Martin Place - a bunch of violets cost 6d (sixpence).

1000 - Number of poor and unemployed attending free luncheon for the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1937 in the Lower Town Hall.