NSWPort & river
Mooney Mooney
For a century, the road north crossed the Hawkesbury here.
1840sPeat’s ferry crosses the Hawkesbury
WHAT STARTED IT
Mooney Mooney Point was the northern landing of the ferry George Peat began in the 1840s from Kangaroo Point. The government built Peats Ferry Road to his wharf in 1847–52, giving Sydney a road north that avoided Wisemans Ferry.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
The crossing lapsed after the railway reached the Hawkesbury. In 1930 two diesel vehicular ferries, named for George and Frances Peat, reopened it for the new highway, and they worked until the Peats Ferry Bridge opened in 1945. Nearby Peat Island held a hospital from 1911 until 2010.
TURNING POINTS
1840sGeorge Peat starts a ferry from Kangaroo Point to Mooney Mooney Point.
1847Work begins on Peats Ferry Road to the ferry wharf.
1930Two diesel vehicular ferries take over the crossing.
1945The Peats Ferry Bridge opens on 5 May and the ferries retire.
1973A six-lane motorway bridge opens beside it.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A small waterfront village on a peninsula in the Hawkesbury, beside the 1945 highway bridge and the motorway bridge that joined it in 1973.