NSWRail & telegraph
Hornsby
Timber and orchard country that the railway turned into a junction town.
1886Railway station opens
WHAT STARTED IT
Timber-getters and orchardists worked the ridges and Old Mans Valley before the railway came. The northern line from Strathfield ended at Hornsby in 1886, and the North Shore line joined it there in 1890, fixing the town on the junction.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
The station was built at a settlement called Jack’s Island, about three kilometres north of the old Hornsby village, which was later renamed Normanhurst. Hornsby grew as a railway town of fettlers, shopkeepers and city commuters, while quarries worked Old Mans Valley from about 1906.
TURNING POINTS
1886The Homebush–Waratah railway is formally opened to Hornsby, the terminus of its first section, on 17 September.
1890The North Shore line from St Leonards ends at Hornsby, creating a junction with the main northern line.
1894The station is renamed Hornsby Junction; the old village and its platform later take the name Normanhurst.
1928The railway through Hornsby is electrified.
1961Westfield opens its first Shoppingtown at Hornsby.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A major northern centre and rail interchange, with one of Sydney’s largest shopping centres, first opened by Westfield in 1961.