Hurstville, New South Wales

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Hurstville
Sydney, New South Wales

Forest Road, Hurstville

Postcode:

2220

Location:

16 km from Sydney CBD

LGA:

City of Hurstville

Suburbs around Hurstville
Beverly Hills	Kingsgrove	Bexley
Penshurst	Hurstville	Carlton
Hurstville Grove	South Hurstville	Allawah

Memorial Square, Forest Road, Hurstville

Memorial Square mosaic, Forest Road, Hurstville

Hurstville is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 16km south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the St George area. Hurstville is the administrative centre of the City of Hurstville. The postcode is 2220.

Hurstville has become a central business district for the southern suburbs of Sydney. It is a large, enterprising, multi-cultural city with its development of commercial buildings and high-rise residential buildings dominating the skyline. Hurstville's residential developments are a mixture of low density housing, medium density flats and high density apartment buildings. As a commercial centre, it features branches of many banks, financial institutions, insurance companies and retail shops. Forest Road features many restaurants, particularly Asian cuisine, as well as a number of cafes and pubs.

1 History
2 Demographics
3 Commercial Area
4 Transport
5 Landmarks
6 Notable residents
7 External links

[edit] History

Hurstville comes from the words 'hurst' meaning wooded emminence and 'ville' meaning town.

[edit] First inhabitants

The first inhabitants in the Hurstville area were Australian Aborigines. It is unknown when Aborigines first settled the Hurstville region. Some estimates have put it as high as 100,000 years ago while others contend that it is as low as 10,000 years ago. At the time of the arrival of the First Fleet the aborigines living in Hurstville were part of the Eora tribe which stretched along the Georges River from Botany Bay to present day Liverpool.

[edit] First European Settlers

The land of the Hurstville region was granted by the government of the new colony of New South Wales to two men; Captain John Townson and his brother Robert Townson in 1808. Captain John Townson was granted 1950 acres (7.9 km²) of land which is now occupied by the suburb of Hurstville and part of Bexley. Robert Townson was granted the land which is now occupied by Penshurst, Mortdale and parts of Peakhurst. In the same year, in the area now known as Riverwood land grants were made to Jane Trotter, Mary Shepley, Charles Doudall, and James Ryan. Later in 1816 another land grant in the same area was given to Mary Redman.

In 1909, Captain John Townson was granted an additional 250 acres (1 km²) in the area now occupied by Kingsgrove and Beverly Hills. The Townson brothers were not happy with the land that they were given because it was not suitable for the farming of sheep for wool and it is likely that the brothers never occupied their land. In 1812, a wealthy merchant named Simeon Lord bought the land of Captain John Townson and named it Lord's Forest. When Simeon Lord died the land became the property of John Rose Holden and James Holt of the Bank of NSW.

[edit] Development

Miles Franklin statue and mural in MacMahon Street

A dam with a roadway on top was constructed on the Cooks River at Tempe in 1839. In 1843 the road which was to become known as Forest Road was extended from the dam to a hand winched punt in Lugarno. On the other side of the river the road continued all the way to Wollongong, however it was only suitable for travellers on horseback. The new road opened up the Hurstville region and created a settlement at Bottle Forest, now known as Heathcote.

In 1850 the Lord Forest estate was purchased by Michael Gannon (1800-61) who subdivided it into small farms along what is now Croydon Road and three larger farms purchased by Dent, Peake and Ibbotson. The area became known as Gannons Forest. The land originally granted to Robert Townson was purchased by John Connell in 1830, and following his death in 1849 the estate was inherited by his grandsons Elias Pearson Laycock and John Connell Laycock.

The Gannons Forest post office opened in 1881. The local school was named 'Hurstville' by School Inspector MacIntyre when it was established in 1876. When the railway station opened in the 15th October 1884, it took the name Hurstville, from the school.

The Hurstville train crash on the 3rd August 1920 resulted in five people killed and fifty injured. It involved the collision of two steam trains, one arriving from Central plunged into the back of the other bound that was stationary at Hurstville railway station, bound for Sutherland.

Hurstville municipality was incorporated in 1887. Hurstville was declared a city in 1988.

[edit] Demographics

The first European settlers in the area were mostly of British and Irish ancestry. From the late 1960s, Hurstville like many surrounding areas became home to migrants from all around the world. The first wave of migrants included Greeks and Italians who began moving south from Sydney's inner-city suburbs. From the 1990s, the Asian community within Hurstville has grown considerably. Many local businesses are operated by people of Asian background, the interests of which are advanced by the St. George Asian Business Association. Hurstville is a hub for Asian groceries and foods.

[edit] Commercial Area

Hurstville Westfield

Hurstville's commercial area is centred around the main street, Forest Road, on the northern side of Hurstville Railway station. The commercial developments also extend to surrounding streets concentrated from Queens Road to The Avenue and on the southern side of Hurstville Railway station, around Ormonde Parade. The commercial developments extend further along Forest Road, west towards Penshurst and east towards Bexley.

Westfield Hurstville is the largest shopping centre in the St George area. It is built over three blocks and stretches from Forest Road over Crofts Street, Park Avenue to The Avenue. Hurstville Super Centre is a small shopping centre built over Hurstville Railway station, which links Forest Road with Ormonde Parade.

[edit] Transport

Hurstville railway station is on the Illawarra line of the City Rail network. All suburban and most interurban trains stop at Hurstville. Hurstville is 20 minutes from Sydney Central railway station on the express service. Hurstville is a major bus interchange with bus services departing from Forest Road and Ormonde Parade.

[edit] Landmarks

Hurstville Public School, Hurstville Boys High School, Danebank Anglican Girls School, Beverly Hills Public School.
St Georges Anglican Church, St Michaels Catholic Church, St Giles Presbyterian Church, Hurstville Uniting Church, Hurstville Seventh-day Adventist Church, Hurstville Assemblies of God, Salvation Army.
Kempt Field, Woodville Park, Hurstville Park, Thorpe Park, Doyle Gardens.

Hurstville Ritz Hotel	Friendly Pharmacy	Centenary Bakery Museum	Hurstville Park
Woodville Park	Old Fire Station

[edit] Notable residents

Sir Jack Brabham - Three-time Formula One World Champion, was born in Hurstville in 1926.
Neville Hayes - Dual Olympic silver medallist in swimming, was born in the suburb in 1943.