White Bay (New South Wales) facts for kids
White Bay is a small bay on Sydney Harbour. It is located near the suburbs of Balmain and Rozelle in the Inner West area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
History of White Bay
White Bay gets its name from John White. He was a naval surgeon who sailed to Australia in 1788 with the First Fleet.
For a long time, since the 1800s, White Bay has been used for ships and industrial work. It has been an important port for many different types of goods. The Government of New South Wales has owned and managed it since 1901.
White Bay was the first port in New South Wales to handle container ships. This means ships that carry large metal boxes (containers) full of goods. This part of the port opened in 1969 on land that was created by filling in part of the bay. In the 1970s, several companies used White Bay for container shipping. The containers were then moved by train to bigger storage areas. However, container shipping moved out of White Bay in late 2004 and now goes to Port Botany.
A new building for cruise ships, called the White Bay Cruise Terminal, opened in April 2013. It replaced an older terminal in Darling Harbour. White Bay is also a place where ships can get fuel.
Important Places in White Bay
The White Bay Hotel was an old hotel on Victoria Road. It was first built in 1861 and then rebuilt and updated several times. The hotel closed in 1992 because it was surrounded by busy roads and there were no longer many local workers nearby. For a while, it was only used for advertising signs. Sadly, in 2008, a fire destroyed the hotel, and it was quickly pulled down. The government bought the land in 2010.
The old White Bay Power Station is a very noticeable building in the area. It looks like a big, empty factory. On the eastern side of White Bay, you can see the Anzac Bridge. This large bridge was finished in 1996. It is a main road that connects the inner west of Sydney to the city center. Below the Anzac Bridge is an older bridge called the Glebe Island Bridge, which opened in 1903.
Famous Local Person
For 25 years, from 1971 until she passed away in 1996, a well-known Sydney person named Beatrice Olive ("Beattie") Bush sold newspapers. She sold them to drivers passing by the corner of The Crescent and Victoria Road.
Every morning, no matter the weather, Beatrice would be there. She wore Balmain Tigers socks and running shoes. She became a familiar sight for thousands of people driving to work.
A song called The White Bay Paper Seller was written about Beatrice in 1984 by Judy Small. In 1986, a painting by Susan Dorothea White showed Beatrice running between cars and trucks, selling newspapers in the rain. A documentary film about her life, called The Paper Queen, was made in 2004.
In 2005, a new bridge for bikes and walkers was built over Victoria Road. It was named the Beatrice Bush Bridge to honor her. You can even see her newspaper trolley, hat, gloves, and other clothes at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney.
Images for kids
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The old White Bay Power Station
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Glebe Island grain silos, used for storing grain
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The Balmain Coal Loader, where coal was once loaded onto ships
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The White Bay Hotel being pulled down
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The Beatrice Bush Bridge, for bikes and people walking
