Erskineville, New South Wales
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Erskineville is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Erskineville is located about 3 kms south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney. Erskineville is informally part of the region of the Inner West, but is also considered to be part of the inner-city because of its close proximity to the city. Erskineville is colloquially known as Erko. The postcode is 2043.
Erskineville is bordered by the suburbs of Newtown to the west, Eveleigh to the north, St Peters to the south, and Alexandria to the east. The locality of Macdonaldtown sits over the north-west border.
Erskineville is a residential suburb with a village-type atmosphere. It has a small shopping strip around the railway station and several popular pubs, including the Rose of Australia, the Imperial Hotel and Erskineville Hotel. Erskineville is a popular location with residents because of its close proximity to the city, trendy cafes and village atmosphere. These features also make real estate very expensive in this area, especially considering the small size of most properties. Erskineville Oval is located on the eastern border of the suburb.
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[edit] Transport
Erskineville railway station is on the Bankstown line of the City Rail network. Towards the city the stops are: Erskineville, Redfern, Central, Town Hall, Circular Quay, Wynyard and it takes around 5 minutes to reach Central Station. Newtown railway station and Macdonaldtown railway station are also within close walking distance. There are two bus stops located on Erskineville Road. Buses provide a service from Marrickville Metro shopping centre at vfhhhk Marrickville to Surry Hills.
[edit] History
The area was originally part of the suburb of Macdonaldtown. Erskineville is named after Erskine Villa, the home of Wesleyan minister, Reverend George Erskine, built in 1830. After changing owners a few times, the property was eventually left to the Church of England and became the rectory for the Holy Trinity Church at Macdonaldtown. In 1893, the Borough of Erskineville was created. Eventually the rest of Macdonaldtown was absorbed into the adjacent suburb of Newtown.
In the late nineteenth century the inhabitants were originally market gardeners, though brick making and tanning became dominant industries by the end of the nineteenth century. The Victorian cottages and small rows of Victorian terraces that dominate the built form of the suburb were the homes of the workers in these industries, which helps explain how small they are - a four metre wide terrace is large by Erskineville standards.
In the early twentieth century manufacturing in the area diversified, and Erskineville became a resolutely working class inner city suburb, with a proud history of resistance, and a less proud history of street violence. After World War II, Greek and later Yugoslav migrants found it an affordable place to settle, near the city.
From the 1970s, Erskineville underwent gentrification with new residents attracted to the village atmosphere, the excellent public transport links (three railway stations on two different lines within walking distance) and the proximity to Newtown. The gay and lesbian community were part of the first wave of gentrification and are still component of the community. As the terrace houses were renovated, the narrow streets were cobbled and speed-bumped and an urban forest of plantings grew in the streets and pocket parks. Families were again attracted to the area and prams began dominating the widened footpaths near the extremely fashionable cafes.
[edit] Pop Culture
- The Imperial Hotel at Erskineville is the famous drag show pub featured in the movie Priscilla, Queen of the Desert).
- Erskineville and the Inner West area were featured in the indie film, Erskineville Kings, one of the last projects that Hugh Jackman worked on before he was offered the role of Wolverine in X-Men, henceforth becoming a Hollywood movie star.
- Famed retro hard rock band Wolfmother was raised and formed here.
[edit] References
- The Book of Sydney Suburbs, Compiled by Frances Pollen, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1990, Published in Australia ISBN 0-207-14495-8
[edit] External links
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- Street map from Street Directory, MSN Maps and Multimap.
- Satellite image from Google Maps, WikiMapia and Terraserver.
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