Rockdale, New South Wales
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, see Electoral district of Rockdale.
- For the local government area, see the City of Rockdale.
Rockdale is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 11km south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the St George area. Rockdale is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of Rockdale. The postcode is 2216.
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| Sydney suburbs near Rockdale (City of Rockdale) |
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| Arncliffe | Banksia | Kyeemagh |
| Bexley | Rockdale | Brighton-le-Sands |
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| Bexley | Kogarah | Monterey |
Contents |
[edit] Transport
The Princes Highway is the main road through Rockdale. West Botany Street, to the east, runs parallel to Princes Highway. Bay Street links Rockdale to General Holmes Drive at Brighton-le-Sands. Rockdale railway station is on the Illawarra line of the City Rail network. Rockdale is a major bus interchange for Sydney Buses government buses, which provides services to Miranda, Brighton-Le-Sands, Dulwich Hill, Burwood and Bondi Junction.
[edit] Commercial Area
Rockdale has a mixture of residential, commercial and light industrial areas. The main shopping strip runs along the Princes Highway, on the eastern side of Rockdale railway station. The commercial centre spreads out into surrounding streets and on the western side of the railway line. King Street has developed into a cosy strip of cafes and grocery shops. Commercial developments run along the length of theparts of Bay Street and West Botany Street. The light industrial areas are located around West Botany Street.
Rockdale Plaza opened in 1997 and is a medium sized shopping centre located on Princes Highway. It contains two supermarkets, two discount department stores, a motor registry, a medical centre, a food court, real estate agent, sports store, electrical appliance store, video rental shop and specialty shops. It was built on the former site of the Waltons Department store.
Rockdale Town Hall and the St George Tavern are examples of some of the Art Deco architecture in the area.
[edit] History
Rockdale was originally known as Frog Hollow, then White Gum Flat and later West Botany. West Botany Municipality was declared 13th January 1871 and had two wards, West Botany and Arncliffe. A council chambers was built in 1872 on Rocky Point Road, Arncliffe and was used until 1888 when a new building was erected on the site of the present Rockdale Town Hall, which was then demolished and rebuilt after World War 2.
There was a suggestion that the area become the Municipality of Scarborough but the name Rockdale was suggested by pioneer Mary Ann Geeves, postmistress and tollgate keeper and was officially adopted in 1887. Her husband, Yeoman Geeves, was a ganger on the construction of Rocky Point Road and the demolition of Cobbler's Hill (later called Arncliffe Hill). The Geeves family, including eldest son Frederick lived on the corner of today's Princes Highway and Tramway Arcade. Their general store adjoined the cottage and operated the first post office between Arncliffe and Kogarah in 1882. Development in the area began with the opening of the railway in 1884. Until 1949, an electric tramway operated between Rockdale Station down Bay Street to Brighton-Le-Sands. In 1948 Rockdale and Bexley councils amalgamated as Rockdale Municipal Council. The City of Rockdale was declared in 1995.
[edit] Landmarks
- Rockdale Plaza, Rockdale Town Hall, Rockdale Library
- Bicentennial Park, McCarthy Reserve, Rockdale Park, Ador Reserve
- St John the Evangelist Anglican Church, Rockdale Presbyterian Church, St Josephs Catholic Church, Society of St Pius X Catholic Church, Church of Christ, Rockdale Uniting Church, St Petka Macedonian Orthodox Church, Assemblies of God, Jehovah's Witnesses.
- Rockdale Public School, St Josephs Catholic School
- Lydham Hall, Lydham Ave Rockdale
[edit] References
- The Book of Sydney Suburbs, Compiled by Frances Pollen, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1990, Published in Australia ISBN 0-207-14495-8
- Pictorial Memories ST. GEORGE: Rockdale, Kogarah, Hurstville Joan Lawrence, Kingsclear Books, 1996, Published in Australia ISBN 0-908272-45-6
[edit] External links
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- Street map from Street Directory, MSN Maps and Multimap.
- Satellite image from Google Maps, WikiMapia and Terraserver.
- Rockdale City Council website
- 2001 Census Information
- South East Health
- Rockdale Chamber of Commerce
- Web Site Design in Rockdale
| Suburbs and localities within the City of Rockdale | St George | Sydney |
|---|
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Arncliffe | Banksia | Bardwell Park | Bardwell Valley | Bexley | Bexley North | Brighton-Le-Sands | Dolls Point | Kingsgrove | Kogarah | Kyeemagh | Monterey | Ramsgate | Ramsgate Beach | Rockdale | Sandringham | Sans Souci | Sydney International Airport | Turrella | Wolli Creek |
| List of Sydney suburbs |
