Eastwood, New South Wales

Originally thought to have been inhabited by the Wallumedegal Aboriginal tribe, who lived in the area between the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, the area was first settled by Europeans shortly after the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, from land grants to marines and N.S.W. Corps, and was named "Eastwood" by an early Irish free settler, William Rutledge. Today it is a large urban centre in the north of Sydney of over 14000 people, with a large shopping area. Over the past few decades Eastwood has become increasingly multicultural and has a large Chinese and Korean community. Eastwood is best known as the place of where the Granny Smith Apple was first grown.

1 Geography
2 History
3 The People and Business
4 Important Places
5 Streets of Eastwood
6 External links

[edit] Geography

Eastwood is located at the edge of the Hornsby Plateau, and its southern and western sides, the suburbs of Dundas Valley and Denistone, the land falls away down to the Cumberland Plain. To the north, Eastwood is bounded by the transport hub of Epping and to its east Marsfield, with which Eastwood shares the same postcode (2122). The suburb is split between two local council areas, being located mostly within the City of Ryde, and partially within the City of Parramatta, so is split between the Lower North Shore and the Hills District areas.

The suburb is predominantly housing, but the main shopping area of Eastwood is centred between Rowe St and Rutledge St:

By car:
- If travelling along Victoria Rd, turn onto Shaftsbury Rd.
- If travelling along Epping Rd, turn onto Balaclava Rd, left into Blaxland Rd, right into First Ave/Rutledge St, and then right into Trelawney St.
- If travelling along Pennant Hills Rd, turn onto Marsden Rd, left into Terry Rd and then right into Shaftsbury.
By train:
- Use CityRail's Northern Line and get off at Eastwood Railway Station, which is in between Epping and Denistone stations.
By bus: Buses run from various major centres to an interchange the railway station, including the 545 Route from Parramatta and Chatswood, the 544 from Auburn and Macquarie University Via Denistone East and the X15/515 route to the City.

[edit] History

The old Eastwood Brickworks site, now being developed into a housing estate.

The area of Eastwood was originally granted between the years of 1790 and 1803. In 1835, William Rutledge purchase the area and gave it the name of Eastwood Estate. In 1863 Edward Terry purchased the estate. Upon Edward Terry's death in 1905, the estate was sub-divided into what is now the Eastwood village and area. The name derives from the name of the Terry family residence, so called after Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, England. Eastwood is home to the Granny Smith apple variety. This is celebrated each October with the Granny Smith Festival which attracts over 60,000 people each year.

The shopping area underwent a major upgrade in the early 1980s. Rowe St, which originally ran across the railway line through a level crossing was turned into a mall between The Avenue and West Parade, the level crossing removed, and a bridge built in First Avenue for crossing traffic. This bridge was to service the planned County of Cumberland Scheme "County Road" (linking Eastwood with Macquarie Park), a highly controversial road project in the local area[1].

[edit] The People and Business

Eastwood is a harmonious multicultural suburb. Its commercial district is becoming well known as an Asian shopping precinct, with specialty stores, supermarkets and a surplus of restaurants run by Chinese, Korean, Sri Lankan and Indian retailers. The Eastwood Shopping Centre, which includes major retailer Woolworths, is located in the town centre and opens on to the Eastwood Plaza. The Plaza features a fountain and several cafes with outdoor seating.

While most of Eastwood is residential, with one or two-storey buildings and villas, the area surrounding the town centre boasts buildings up to seven storeys high. There is a controversial proposal to further develop the Eastwood CBD^{[citation needed]}, and infrastructure improvements would be necessary to compensate for the population increase.

Eastwood used to have a lake which gave the names Lakeside Road and The Lakeside Road Uniting Church. This lake was later converted to an oval which is used for soccer matches and by local schools.

Eastwood is also home to the Corrective Services Academy, a training centre for prison officers.

[edit] Important Places

Historic Buildings:
- Brush Farm House - former home of Gregory Blaxland, one of the explorers of the Blue Mountains.
- Eastwood House - the former home of Edward Terry, the original landowner of the estate on which Eastwood is now built.

Churches (in alphabetical order):
- Baptist Church - on Rutledge Street (on the eastern side of the railway line.)
- Exclusive Bretheran Church - on Hillview Road
- Lakeside Road Uniting Church - on Lakeside Road (former Methodist Church)
- Macquarie Chapel - 2 Herring Road. Pastor Richard Quadrio started the church in 2001. In 2006 it combined with Macquarie Presbyterian Church, who have met on the site for many years. It is now one of the fastest growing, most dynamic and welcoming churches in Eastwood.
- St Andrew's Uniting Church - on Rutledge Street (former Presbyterian Church)
- St Kevin's Catholic Church - on Hillview Road - this church was built in 1993 to replace the original church, which is now the library of the local Catholic school (St Kevins.)
- St Phillip's Anglican Church - on corner Rutledge Street and Shaftsbury Road

Schools:
- Eastwood Heights Public School
- Eastwood Public School
- Marist College Eastwood (Catholic Secondary School)
- St Kevins Eastwood (Catholic Primary School)

[edit] Streets of Eastwood

West of the railway line:

Cocos Ave -
Eastwood Ave -
Lakeside Rd -
Railway Ave -
Rowe St -
Rutledge St -
Shaftsbury Rd -
Tarrants Av -
Trelawney St -
Wallace St -
Wentworth Rd -
Terry Road -

East of the railway line:

East Pde
First Ave
Second Ave
Third Ave
Fourth Ave
Fith Ave
Sixth Ave
Balaclava Rd -
Doomben Ave -
May St -
Railway Pde
Rowe St -
Vimiera Rd -

[edit] External links

Coordinates: -33.790362° 151.081731°

Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Street Directory, MSN Maps and Multimap.
- Satellite image from Google Maps, WikiMapia and Terraserver.

Suburbs of the City of Ryde \| Lower North Shore \| Sydney
Denistone \| Denistone East \| Denistone West \| East Ryde \| Eastwood \| Gladesville \| Macquarie Park \| Marsfield \| Meadowbank \| Melrose Park \| North Ryde \| Putney \| Ryde \| Tennyson Point \| West Ryde
List of Sydney suburbs

Suburbs and localities within the City of Parramatta \| Western Sydney \| Hills District \| Sydney
Camellia \| Chester Hill \| Clyde \| Dundas \| Dundas Valley \| Eastwood \| Epping \| Ermington \| Granville \| Guildford East \| Harris Park \| Kingsdene \| Model Farms \| Northmead \| Oatlands \| Old Toongabbie \| Parramatta \| North Parramatta \| Pendle Hill \| Rosehill \| Rydalmere \| South Granville \| Telopea \| Toongabbie \| Winston Hills \| Wentworthville \| Westmead \|
List of Sydney suburbs