Riverstone, New South Wales

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A suburb in the City of Blacktown, in Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, Riverstone (pronounced "Riverston") is one of the oldest towns in Australia. It was originally established as a government stock farm in 1803. In 1810 Lieut-Col Maurice Charles O'Connell was granted 2,500 acres of land there, which he called "Riverston Farm", after his birthplace. (The "e" at the end first appeared on railway timetables in the 1860s, apparently a misprint that has become the accepted spelling).

1 Early History
2 Transport Links
3 Trivia
4 External links
5 References

[edit] Early History

Originally, beef cattle farmed in the area were driven overland to the Hawkesbury River for transport by sailing ship to the convict settlement at Sydney Cove. The construction of the Sydney to Richmond Railway line in the 1864 both eliminated the need for this and opened up the region to non-rural development.

An important meatworks was established there in 1878, undergoing various stages of rebuilding and expansion until it closed permanently in 1992. On its western side Riverstone still has a large and thriving industrial area.

In the 1880s O'Connell's widow subdivided and sold off most of the original grant, and a pattern of intersecting streets was laid out, mostly named after famous streets in London (eg Piccadilly Street, Gladstone Parade etc). The presumption was that Riverstone was set to become an important regional centre but his did not actually happen.

Most of the allotments were eventually taken up for suburban housing but a few of the original 1880s blocks remain vacant to the present day. Until the beginning of the 21st century, Riverstone remained pretty much a small country town, but the recent massive housing boom in the region is set to swallow it up as part of the urban sprawl.

In 1988, as part of a Federal Government programme to commemorate the 200th anniversary of European settlement in Australia, a heritage museum was established in the old Masonic hall in Garfield Road, now open the first Sunday of each month.

[edit] Transport Links

Riverstone is situated between the Richmond Road running from Blacktown to Richmond, and the Windsor Road running from Windsor to North Parramatta. Riverstone railway station is on Cityrail's Richomd line between Blacktown and Windsor

[edit] Trivia

Riverstone is one of the few suburbs left in the Sydney region with a level crossing with old-fashioned boom gates. The view looking South onto the undeveloped flood-prone paddocks is popular with Sydney film makers as a stand-in for a small country railway station. The final parting scene in the film Beneath Clouds was shot there.