NSWRail & telegraph
Sutherland
A station in the bush, with rival townships laid out on either side.
1885Illawarra railway reaches Sutherland
WHAT STARTED IT
The Illawarra railway ran along a high ridge through the timbered Holt-Sutherland Estate. The station was placed on land owned by the Intercolonial Investment Land and Building Company, and a township grew around it.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
Lots went on sale on both sides of the line from 1886, freehold to the east and 99-year leasehold to the west, and a public school opened in 1887. Woronora Cemetery and its short railway followed, and Sutherland became the seat of the new shire in 1906.
TURNING POINTS
1885The railway from Hurstville reaches Sutherland in December, when the site holds little more than navvies’ tents.
1886The Intercolonial company offers its Sutherland Township estate for sale in April; a postal service starts at the station in July.
1887A sales plan advertises freehold building sites ‘right at the railway station’, and a public school opens.
1906The Sutherland Shire Council is formed, with Sutherland as its centre.
1926The railway to Sutherland is electrified.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
The administrative centre of Sutherland Shire, a suburban hub around a busy station on the Illawarra line.