NSWRail & telegraph
Hurstville
The first terminus of the Illawarra line, nine miles from Sydney.
1884Illawarra railway opens to Hurstville
WHAT STARTED IT
The land here was part of about 2,000 acres granted to John Townson in 1808 and confirmed by Governor Macquarie in 1810. For decades it was thinly settled bush known as Gannon’s Forest, crossed by Gannon’s Forest Road, now Forest Road. Hurstville became a town when the first section of the Illawarra railway opened to a terminus here on 15 October 1884, nine miles from Sydney.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
A public school opened in October 1876 under the name Hurstville, and the railway station opened under the same name eight years later. Land agents subdivided the paddocks near the station, and in March 1887 the Municipal District of Hurstville was proclaimed after 635 ratepayers petitioned for it; that June the aldermen chose Alexander Milsop as the first mayor. Mayor Patrick laid the foundation stone of new council chambers in MacMahon Street in 1913.
TURNING POINTS
1808Major George Johnston grants John Townson 2,000 acres in the Bexley and Hurstville districts; Macquarie regrants it in 1810.
1876Hurstville Public School opens in October.
1884The Illawarra railway opens from Sydney to its first terminus at Hurstville on 15 October.
1885The ‘Hurstville Township’ estate on Gannon’s Forest Road is auctioned near the station in December.
1887The Municipal District of Hurstville is proclaimed in March; Alexander Milsop is elected first mayor in June.
1913Mayor Patrick lays the foundation stone of new council chambers in MacMahon Street.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A major commercial centre of southern Sydney and the seat of Georges River Council.
KEEP READING · SOURCESTrove · Brisbane Courier, 16 October 1884, ‘Intercolonial’ (Illawarra railway opened to Hurstville)Trove · NSW Government Gazette, 28 March 1887, proclamation of the Municipal District of HurstvilleTrove · The Sydney Morning Herald, 24 June 1887, ‘Hurstville’ (election of first mayor)Trove · The St George Call, 2 August 1913, ‘New Council Chambers at Hurstville’National Library of Australia · Hurstville Township sales plan, Mills & Pile, 1885NSW State Archives · Hurstville Public School (agency record)Australian Dictionary of Biography · John Townson