Earlwood, New South Wales

Summary

Earlwood is a suburb of Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Earlwood is located 10 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, and is part of the Canterbury-Bankstown area. It is in the local government area of the City of Canterbury-Bankstown.[2]

Earlwood
SydneyNew South Wales
Earlwood Hotel, Homer Street in 2006
Map
Map
Population17,741 (2016 census)[1]
Established1829
Postcode(s)2206
Elevation51 m (167 ft)
Location10 km (6 mi) SW of Sydney CBD
LGA(s)City of Canterbury-Bankstown
State electorate(s)Canterbury
Federal division(s)Barton
Suburbs around Earlwood:
Canterbury Hurlstone Park Marrickville
Clemton Park Earlwood Tempe
Kingsgrove
Bexley North
Bardwell Park
Turrella
Wolli Creek

Earlwood stretches from the southern bank of the Cooks River to the northern bank of Wolli Creek. Wolli Creek (the suburb), Turrella and Bardwell Park lie to the south across Wolli Creek, while Canterbury, Hurlstone Park and Marrickville are located to the north and east across Cooks River. The locality of Undercliffe is part of the suburb. Clemton Park adjoins the suburb to the west. Earlwood is primarily residential with some commercial developments around the main road, Homer Street.

History edit

Early history edit

 
Earlwood Wines (left, 2000s) and Chelsea Theatre (right, 1950s)
 
Acropolis Funeral services in former bank building in Homer Street

Earlwood began as a land grant obtained by John Parkes in 1827. John Parkes and his sons operated logging camp called Parkes Camp in 1829 and felled the timber on his 50-acre grant. Later, it became known as Parkestown.[3] The name was changed to Forest Hill around 1905-06 and changed again to Earlwood in 1918.[citation needed]

Frederick Wright Unwin, solicitor and director of the Australasian Sugar Company, obtained land in the Undercliffe area, east of Thorp's property, in 1840, and built his home, which he called Wanstead.[citation needed] Initially, a punt was used to cross the Cooks River. Later, a wooden bridge was built and the road eventually became known as Unwins Bridge Road.[citation needed] The name of the property survives in Wanstead Avenue and Wanstead Reserve.

Post-World War I history edit

After World War I, a war services subdivision was created west of Wardell Road for retired soldiers and their families. The streets of that subdivision commemorate the names of famous men and battles connected with the war, such as Kitchener, Hamilton, Vimy, Fricourt, Polygon, Thompson, Guedecourt and Flers. The area incorporating Bedford, River, Grove, Richmond, and Stone streets was a subdivision known as the Canterbury estate and was divided for workers of the quarry at the end of River Street. This estate also took in Louisa, Sparke, Caroline, Elsie and Ann streets and also Willow lane, some of the streets had different names to those that they are known by today. A notable occupant of the area was the Scott family which operated the Scotties tissue factory on the corner of Louisa and River Streets.[4]

Between 1912 and 1957, electric trams operated along Homer Street to Earlwood, providing service to the city via Marrickville and Newtown.[5] The service is now provided by buses. Since the 1960s, the area has had an increasing population of Greek ancestry.