North Sydney is a busy area and a major business hub in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It's located just three kilometres north of the main Sydney city centre. North Sydney is also the main office for the local government, the North Sydney Council.

History of North Sydney
Historic Buildings and Places
North Sydney's Business Area
People of North Sydney
Getting Around North Sydney
Places of Worship
Schools in North Sydney
- Primary Schools
- High Schools
Landmarks to See
Sports and Fun
Famous People from North Sydney
How North Sydney is Governed
Gallery
See also

History of North Sydney

Early Days and Names

Long ago, the Aboriginal people living on the south side of Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) called the north side warung. This word simply meant the other side. People on the north side used the same name for the south side!

When European settlers arrived, they first called the area Hunterhill. This name came from a property owned by Thomas Muir. He bought land in 1794 near where the Sydney Harbour Bridge's north tower stands today. He built a house and named it after his childhood home. This area eventually became known as St Leonards.

Becoming North Sydney

The town of St Leonards was planned in 1836. It covered the area we now know as North Sydney. By 1846, there were 106 houses here. A bus service started running between Milsons Point and the "North Sydney Shops". This helped North Sydney grow into its own unique place.

Aerial view of North Sydney while the Sydney Harbour Bridge was being built.

In 1890, North Sydney officially became its own municipality. After some debate, the name North Sydney was chosen. The local post office, which opened in 1854 as St Leonards, changed its name to North Sydney in 1890. The first public school also changed its name to North Sydney in 1910.

In the early 1970s (1971–1972), North Sydney changed a lot. Many tall buildings, called skyscrapers, were built. About 27 new skyscrapers went up in just two years!

Trams in North Sydney

North Sydney used to have a big tram system. The first trams started running in 1886. One cool part of the tram system was an underground tram station at Wynyard railway station. This was the only one of its kind in Australia!

Trams also ran right over the Sydney Harbour Bridge. They travelled from Blue Street, crossed a special steel arch bridge, and then went over the eastern side of the Harbour Bridge. They even had a stop at Milsons Point railway station before going underground into Wynyard station. The tram system closed down in 1962.

Historic Buildings and Places

North Sydney has many places that are important to its history. These are called "heritage-listed" sites, meaning they are protected because of their special value.

Woodstock (1870) is one of the last 19th-century homes on the Pacific Highway. It was once the home of John Brown, an early settler.

The HSBC Building was built in 1931. It used to be a branch of the Bank of New South Wales.

Some of these special places include:

The former North Sydney Technical High School (now the Greenwood Hotel)
Graythwaite on Edward Street
The North Sydney Sewer Vent on Falcon Street
St Leonards Park on Miller Street
Don Bank on Napier Street
The North Sydney Post Office on Pacific Highway
Kailoa on Union Street

Other heritage-listed buildings include several churches like the Chinese Christian Church, Christ Church, and St Thomas's Church. There are also old homes like Woodstock on Pacific Highway.

North Sydney's Business Area

North Sydney is a major business centre. It has the second-highest number of office buildings in New South Wales. Many companies in advertising and information technology have their offices here.

Some big companies with offices in North Sydney include AAMI, AGL, Cisco Systems, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Hyundai, National Australia Bank, NBN Co, Nine Entertainment, and Vodafone.

Even though it's a big business area, North Sydney doesn't have a huge number of shops. There are four supermarkets: Aldi, IGA, Coles, and Woolworths Metro. The main shopping centre is Greenwood Plaza, which is connected to North Sydney station. Berry Square is another shopping centre.

People of North Sydney

In 2021, about 8,964 people lived in North Sydney. Almost half of the residents (46.9%) were born in Australia. Other common countries of birth were China (5.8%), England (5.4%), and India (4.6%).

Most people (61.6%) speak only English at home. Other languages spoken include Mandarin (6.4%) and Cantonese (3.2%). When it comes to religion, many residents (43.9%) said they had no religion, while 19.9% were Catholic.

Getting Around North Sydney

North Sydney is very well connected to the Sydney city centre. You can get there by road or train across the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge.

North Sydney railway station is part of the Sydney Trains network. Many bus services also run through North Sydney, connecting it to nearby suburbs. The Warringah Freeway links North Sydney to the city centre and to suburbs further north like Chatswood.

You can even walk from parts of North Sydney to the city centre in less than 30 minutes by crossing the Sydney Harbour Bridge! There's also a ferry wharf at High Street, which connects North Sydney to other parts of Sydney Harbour.

A new train station, Victoria Cross railway station, is planned to open in 2024. It will be part of the Sydney Metro City & Southwest project.

Places of Worship

St Mary's Church

North Sydney has several churches, including St Mary's Catholic Church, St Thomas Anglican Church, and Christ Church. There is also a Hare Krishna Temple.

Schools in North Sydney

North Sydney has many schools for different age groups.

Primary Schools

North Sydney Demonstration School
Mosman Preparatory School
St Marys Primary School

High Schools

North Sydney Boys High School (public)
North Sydney Girls High School (public)
Marist Catholic College North Shore (Catholic)
Wenona School (independent)
Monte Sant' Angelo Mercy College (independent)
Sydney Church of England Grammar School (Shore) (independent)

Other schools nearby include St Aloysius' College and Loreto Kirribilli. For older students, there are colleges like the Australian Catholic University and Billy Blue College of Design.

Landmarks to See

A WWI German Field Gun in St Leonards Park. This gun was given to the Council in 1921.

North Sydney has many interesting landmarks:

MLC Building (a tall office building)
North Sydney Post Office
North Sydney Oval (a famous sports ground)
Stanton Library
Brett Whiteley Square
Museum at Mary MacKillop Place, which tells the story of Australia's first Catholic saint.
Don Bank Museum, which shows the history of the local area.
Greenwood Plaza shopping complex
North Sydney railway station
Victoria Cross railway station (coming soon!)
Independent Theatre

Sports and Fun

St Leonards Park is North Sydney's main recreation area. It's popular for jogging and walking dogs. North Sydney Oval is inside the park. It's used for cricket in summer and is the home ground for rugby teams in winter.

North Sydney has many sports clubs:

North Sydney Bears (rugby league)
Norths Pirates Junior Rugby Union
Northern Suburbs Rugby Club
North Sydney Cricket Club
North Sydney Chess Club
UTS Northern Suburbs Athletic Club
Gordon-North Sydney Hockey Club
North Sydney Symphony Orchestra

During the 2000 Summer Olympics, North Sydney was the starting point for the marathon race. The race ended at the Olympic Stadium in Homebush.

Famous People from North Sydney

Many interesting people have lived in or are connected to North Sydney:

Billy Blue: A convict who has several places named after him, like Blues Point.
Theodora Cowan: Australia's first locally-born woman sculptor.
Joe Hockey: A politician who used to be the Treasurer of Australia.
Henry Lawson: A famous Australian poet and short-story writer.
Kel Nagle: A golfer who won a major championship in 1960.
Peter Taylor: A Test cricketer.

How North Sydney is Governed

The local government for North Sydney and its surrounding suburbs is the North Sydney Council.

North Sydney is also part of the federal government area called North Sydney. The current Member of Parliament for this area is Kylea Tink, who was elected in 2022.

At the state level, North Sydney is in the electoral division of North Shore. This area usually votes for the Liberal Party, and the current state member is Felicity Wilson.