NSWRail & telegraph
Newtown (NSW)
A roadside village that became an inner-west shopping strip.
1855Newtown station opens on the first railway
WHAT STARTED IT
Newtown grew along the road south from Sydney towards Cooks River, now King Street, and the name ‘New Town’ was already in use by 1827. When the colony’s first railway opened in 1855 it had a station here, and omnibuses ran from it to Cooks River.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
Houses were already going up around the station when the railway opened, and the Municipality of Newtown was proclaimed in December 1862. King Street became one of the first suburban shopping streets outside the city centre. In 1928 Newtown’s Lilian Fowler became the first woman elected an alderman in New South Wales. The suburb later became a working-class and migrant district, and has since been gentrified.
TURNING POINTS
1827The name ‘New Town’ is already in use for the district.
1855Newtown station opens on the Sydney–Parramatta railway on 26 September.
1862The Municipality of Newtown is proclaimed on 12 December.
1928Lilian Fowler is elected to Newtown Council, the first woman alderman in NSW.
1938Lilian Fowler becomes Mayor of Newtown.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
An inner-west suburb known for the shops, pubs and restaurants of King Street and Enmore Road, split between the City of Sydney and Inner West councils.