NSWRail & telegraph
Dee Why
Salvation Army land that became a beachside town centre.
1912Tramway opens through Dee Why
WHAT STARTED IT
Dee Why lies on Pittwater Road between Manly and Narrabeen, beside a lagoon and an ocean beach. Most of the land passed from the Jenkins family to the Salvation Army in the 1890s, so little was built until the Army began selling it off. When the tramway from Brookvale to Collaroy opened through the district in August 1912, subdivisions followed along its route.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
Surveyor James Meehan wrote ‘Dy Beach’ in his field book in 1815, the first written record of the name. In 1911 there were only five dwellings and 62 people, but land sales and the tram brought weekenders and then permanent residents. The public school opened in 1922, the hotel in 1930, and after the Second World War flats spread around the town centre.
TURNING POINTS
1815Surveyor James Meehan notes ‘Dy Beach’ in his field book while working near Freshwater.
1893Coach travellers from Manly pass the Salvation Army’s resting house for its officers on a hillside overlooking the sea.
1911A sale plan is drawn up for the Dee Why Beach Estate beside the beach; the district has only five dwellings.
1912The tramway from Brookvale to Collaroy Beach, passing Dee Why, is officially opened on 3 August.
1922Dee Why Public School opens.
1973Warringah Council moves its offices to Dee Why.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
One of the most densely populated suburbs on the Northern Beaches, with a shopping centre on Pittwater Road and flats along the beachfront. The lagoon is a wildlife refuge.