Kogarah, New South Wales
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, see Electoral district of Kogarah.
- For the local government area, see the Municipality of Kogarah.
Kogarah is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 12 kms south of the Sydney central business district and is considered to be the centre of the St George area. Kogarah is the administrative centre for the local government area of the Municipality of Kogarah, although a small part of the suburb is located in the City of Rockdale. The postcode is 2217.
| Sydney suburbs near Kogarah ( Municipality of Kogarah,City of Rockdale) |
||
| Bexley | Rockdale | Brighton-Le-Sands |
| Carlton | Kogarah | Monterey |
|---|---|---|
| Kogarah Bay | Beverley Park | Ramsgate |
Contents |
[edit] Location
Kogarah takes its name from Kogarah Bay, a small bay on the northern shore of the Georges River. The suburb originally stretched to the bay but has since been divided up to form the separate suburbs of Kogarah Bay and Beverley Park.
Kogarah has a mixture of residential, commercial and light industrial areas. It is also known for its large number of schools (including primary school, high school and tertiary education) and health care services (including two hospitals and many medical centres). The NRL side, St George Illawarra Dragons have their Sydney office based at nearby OKI Jubilee Oval, often referred to as Kogarah. Kogarah features all types of residential developments from low density detached houses, to medium density flats and high density high-rise apartments.
[edit] Commercial Area
Kogarah’s main shopping area is located around Kogarah railway station on Railway Parade, Regent Street and on the opposite side of the railway line on Station Street. The commercial area also extends to surrounding streets such as Montgomery and Belgrave Streets. Kogarah Town Centre is a shopping centre on Railway Parade. This commercial area includes the St. George Bank national headquarters in a large office building in Montgomery Street, which provides employment for hundreds of St George bank staff. Many high rise apartment buildings have also been built around the commercial area in recent years.
Commercial and light industrial developments are also located along the Princes Highway and Rocky Point Road. The Darrell Lea Chocolate factory is located in Rocky Point Road. Surrounding streets feature more industrial developments. A small group of shops is located on President Avenue, sometimes referred to as Moorefield.
St George Hospital is a major regional hospital on Kensington Street, that serves the whole St George area but also accepts patients from other regions in New South Wales. St George Private Hospital is located nearby on the corner of South Street and the Princes Highway. Many medical centres, doctor’s surgeries and specialists’ rooms and related services are located in the surrounding area.
Kogarah Police Station and Kogarah Local Court are located on Montgomery Street. The local court serves the whole of the St George area and as such many barristers and solicitors have their offices in Kogarah. A historic fire station is located in Gray Street and another heritage building, the Kogarah School of the Arts is in Bowns Road.
[edit] Kogarah Town Centre
The Kogarah Town Centre is Kogarah's largest shopping centre. It includes a post office, a supermarket (Woolworths) along with a multitude of specialty stores like butcher, green grocer, delicatessen, bakery, newsagent, hairdressers, chemist and one of Sydney's first Video Ezy stores. The centre also features a food court, cafes and a tavern. It provides easy access to Kogarah railway station. While it is a shopping centre, it should be noted that the Kogarah Town Centre is quite small and the majority of its customers pass through from the railway station or Woolworths. There is also a smaller shopping centre in Belgrave Street, located below a residential development and around a town square. It features Kogarah's new Library and Cultural Centre and includes shops, offices, cafes and restaurants.
[edit] Transport
The entire Municipality of Kogarah and surrounding areas rely on bus, train and taxi services that operate from the centre of Kogarah's shopping district. Bus and train services accommodate the large population within Kogarah, as well as the large number of schools in the area.
Kogarah railway station is located on the Illawarra line of the CityRail network. The station sits below a concourse and a small shopping complex called the Kogarah Town Centre. In the late 1990s, the station underwent extensive renovations which added easy access facilities such as elevators from the concouse onto each of the four platforms.
Buses from Kogarah service surrounding suburbs, particularly those along the beach such as Brighton-le-Sands, Monterey, Ramsgate Beach, Sans Souci etc. which rely heavily on bus services since they are far from railway stations. Until 1937, a steam tramway operated between Kogarah and Sans Souci via Rocky Point Road. This was replaced by an electric trolleybus service, one of only two such services to operate in Sydney. This was subsequently replaced in the 1950s with the current diesel government bus routes that currently operate. The majority of public transportation in Kogarah departs and arrives close to Kogarah Town Centre.
[edit] Culture
[edit] St. George Dragons
Kogarah is the part-time home of the NRL's St George Illawarra Dragons who play rugby league at Jubilee Oval, one of Sydney's first football fields.[citation needed]
[edit] The Annual Kogarah Street Fair and Charity Bed Race
The most popular social event on the Kogarah calendar is the annual Kogarah Street Fair and Charity Bed Race. Teams compete through Kogarah's main street, Railway Parade, on hospital beds, all in the name of charity. Most beds are driven by local businesses in teams that are usually made up of five. The rules stipulate that one member of the team must be in a lying position on the bed. The beds are always decorated, usually with the colours or insignias of the business sponsoring the bed. Many contestants usually dress up for the cause as well. All proceeds of the race go to the St George Hospital.
[edit] History
Kogarah is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning rushes or place of reeds. It had also been written as 'Coggera', 'Cogerah' and 'Kuggerah' but the current spelling was settled when the railway line came through the area in the 1880s. Early land grants in the area were made to John Townson (1760-1835) who received 2,250 acres from 1808 to 1810, centred around Hurstville and James Chandler, whose neighbouring estate was centred around Bexley. The district provided fruit, vegetables and oysters for Sydney. In 1869, St Pauls Church of England opened on Rocky Point Road (now Princes Highway). It was built on 2 acres of land given to the church by William Wolfen the Swedish Consul to Sydney, who owned 800 acres in Kogarah. The suburb grew around the church and the Gardeners Arms Hotel. Kogarah became a municipality in 1885.
The former neighbourhood of Moorefield is now part of Kogarah. It was originally a 60 acre land grant from Governor Lachlan Macquarie in 1812 to Patrick Moore, who built a fine house there. The Moorefield racecourse built by a descendant opened in 1888. The Moorefield estate was subdivided in the 1950s and the Department of Education purchased 19 acres, where it built two high schools and college of further education. Moorefields Girls High School was erected there in 1955 on the former site of Moore’s farm.
[edit] Parks
The Kogarah area also features many parks and reserves, with no shortage of sports playing fields. These include Hogben Park, Frys Reserve, Scarborough Park, Kogarah Park and Jubilee Oval.
[edit] Schools
- Kogarah Public School
- James Cook Boys Technology High School
- Moorefield Girls High School
- Kogarah High School
- St George Girls High School
- St Patrick's Primary School
- Bethany College (years 7 - 10)
- Marist College Kogarah
- Sydney Institute of TAFE: St. George Campus
[edit] Churches
- Resurrection of Christ Greek Orthodox Church, St Patricks Catholic Church, St Pauls Anglican Church, Chinese Christian Church.
[edit] Institutions
- St. George Bank (National head office).
- St.George Leagues Club, Sydney home of the St George Illawarra Dragons Rugby League team.
- St.George Hospital.
- St.George Private Hospital.
- Kogarah golf club.
[edit] Notable Residents
- Clive James - a writer, poet, essayist, critic, and commentator on popular culture
- John Hewson - economist, politician, business journalist
- Reg Gasnier - NRL legend
[edit] References
- The Book of Sydney Suburbs, Compiled by Frances Pollen, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1990, Published in Australia ISBN 0207144958
- Pictorial Memories. ST. GEORGE: Rockdale, Kogarah, Hurstville Joan Lawrence, Kingsclear Books, 1996, Published in Australia ISBN 0908272456
[edit] External links
-
- Street map from Street Directory, MSN Maps and Multimap.
- Satellite image from Google Maps, WikiMapia and Terraserver.
- Kogarah Municipality Council website
- Kogarah Marist High School
- R2K - Return To Kogarah
- Kogarah Cougars JRLFC
- 2001 Census Information
- 233 Army Cadet Unit St George
| Suburbs and localities within the Municipality of Kogarah | St George | Sydney |
|---|
|
Allawah | Beverley Park | Blakehurst | Carlton | Carss Park | Connells Point | Hurstville Grove | Hurstville South | Kogarah | Kogarah Bay | Kyle Bay |
| List of Sydney suburbs |
| 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 |
