NSWMining
Redhead
A mining village without a hotel, named for a red headland seen from the sea.
1889Burwood Extended Colliery opens
WHAT STARTED IT
Coal seams near the coast drew mining companies to the land behind Redhead Bluff, whose reddish colour gave the place its name. The Burwood Extended Colliery opened in 1889 and the Durham, later Lambton B, Colliery followed about 1892.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
A private coal line through Redhead was extended to Belmont in 1916, carrying miners and tourists until 1971. An explosion at Redhead Colliery on 21 January 1926 killed five men, and the town stayed small, with forty houses in the 1920s, until a building boom in the late 1940s.
TURNING POINTS
1889The Burwood Extended Colliery opens, then closes in the 1891 depression.
1892The Scottish Australian Company opens the Durham Colliery, later Lambton B.
1916The New Redhead Coal and Estate Company’s line through Redhead to Belmont is completed in October.
1926An explosion in the No. 4 West section of Redhead Colliery on 21 January kills five men.
1971Passenger services on the Redhead line end.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A coastal suburb of about 3,800 people, best known for its surf beach. The old railway is now the Fernleigh Track walking and cycling path.