NSWPlanned settlement
St Peters (NSW)
A village around a church, then brickpits on the Cooks River road.
1839St Peter’s Church consecrated
WHAT STARTED IT
St Peters grew on the Cooks River Road, now the Princes Highway, the old route south from Sydney to the Cooks River. Robert Campbell gave the ground for a church here and sold the surrounding allotments, and once St Peter’s Church was consecrated in November 1839 the settlement took its name.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
The clay and shale under the district fed brickworks and potteries through the nineteenth century, and Josiah Gentle set up his brickworks at St Peters in 1893. St Peters became a municipality in 1871, and the Illawarra railway opened a station here in October 1884. The deep brickpits became a municipal tip in 1948, and the site is now Sydney Park, where the old kiln chimneys still stand.
TURNING POINTS
1839St Peter’s Church on the Cooks River Road is consecrated on 20 November, with 85 carriages counted at the ceremony.
1871St Peters is incorporated as a municipality; its council records begin on 13 January.
1884St Peters station opens on 15 October as the Illawarra line reaches Hurstville.
1893Brickmaker Josiah Gentle establishes his business at St Peters.
1948The deep brickpits become a municipal waste depot run by the City of Sydney.
1949St Peters Council is merged into Marrickville.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A mixed residential and industrial suburb beside the Princes Highway. Its council merged into Marrickville in 1949, and it is now part of Inner West Council.