Rockdale, New South Wales

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, which opened in 1997, 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.

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.

Rockdale Plaza, Princes Highway	Rockdale Plaza	Café Culture, King Street	Rockdale City Council Admin Building
St George Tavern, Princes Highway	The Grand Hotel, Princes Highway	Rockdale Fire Station	Rockdale Police Station, King Street

History

Rockdale was known by Europeans 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. Residential development began with the opening of the railway in 1884. Perhaps the most significant property developer during the 1880s was Frederick Jamison Gibbes (1839-1888), a Member of Parliament, who is commemorated by Gibbes Street in Banksia. 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.

Landmarks

Rockdale Plaza, Rockdale Town Hall, Rockdale Library
Rockdale Ambulance Station, Rockdale Police Station, Rockdale Fire Station

Parks

Bicentennial Park, McCarthy Reserve, Rockdale Park, Ador Reserve

Bicentennial Park

Commemorative Wall

Churches

St John the Evangelist Anglican Church, Rockdale Presbyterian Church, Rockdale Uniting Church, Church of Christ
St Josephs Catholic Church, Society of St Pius X Catholic Church, St Petka Macedonian Orthodox Church
Assemblies of God, Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, Sydney Chinese Alliance Church

St Johns Anglican Church Hall

St Johns Anglican Church, Princes Highway, Rockdale

Rockdale Uniting Church, Bay Street

Rockdale Uniting Church presbytry

Rockdale Community Church of Christ, Bryant Street

Sydney Chinese Alliance Church, George Street

Rockdale Community Church of Christ, Bryant Street

Rockdale Presbyterian Church, Frederick Street

St Petka Macedonian Orthodox Church, Railway Street

St Josephs Catholic, Frederick Street

Resurrection of Christ, Macedonian Orthodox Church, Frederick Street

Schools

Rockdale Public School, St Josephs Catholic School

Rockdale Public School

St Josephs Catholic School , Ferrier Street

Roslyn Hall, Rockdale/Kogarah Family Day Care

Houses

Watkins Street	Frederick Street	Frederick Street	Frederick Street
Brighton Terraces, off West Botany Street

Politics

Federal Government: Rockdale is in the Division of Barton in the Australian House of Representatives.
State government: Rockdale is in the Electoral district of Rockdale in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.
Local Government: Rockdale is in the local government area of the City of Rockdale.

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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Rockdale, New South Wales

External links

Coordinates: 33°′″S 151°′″E / -33.95329, 151.13996

Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Street Directory, Google Maps, MSN Maps and Multimap.
- Satellite image from Google Maps, WikiMapia and MSN Live Local.
- Topographic and bathymetric map from Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia.
Rockdale City Council website
2001 Census Information
South East Health
Rockdale Chamber of Commerce

Suburbs and localities within the City of Rockdale \| St George \| Sydney
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

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