NSWFarming
Gordon
An orchard village on the ridge that became Ku-ring-gai’s seat.
1860Lane Cove post office opens on the ridge road
WHAT STARTED IT
Gordon grew where the ridge track north from the harbour, later Lane Cove Road and now the Pacific Highway, ran through timber country. Once the timber was cut, orchards and farms took over, and a post office, church and school made this stretch of road the district’s first village.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
The name comes from Robert McIntosh’s Gordondale estate, which was auctioned on Lane Cove Road in 1883. The North Shore railway put a station here in 1890, and paddocks and orchards were cut into building lots for city businessmen. Ku-ring-gai Shire Council held its first meeting at Gordon in 1906 and built its offices on the highway in 1911, making Gordon the area’s administrative centre.
TURNING POINTS
1860A post office called Lane Cove opens in the private house Iolanthe at present-day Gordon.
1872Mrs Frances Lord lays the foundation stone of St John the Evangelist, in the parish of Gordon, on 26 October.
1876The sandstone Gordon Public School and headmaster’s residence are built.
1883Gordondale, on Lane Cove Road, is auctioned in May with free buses from Milsons Point.
1890Gordon station opens on the North Shore line on 1 January.
1906Ku-ring-gai Shire Council holds its first meeting in St John’s parish hall on 8 December.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A residential suburb on the Upper North Shore, with Ku-ring-gai Council’s chambers and the main library beside the old sandstone school.