Fassifern is a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

of the

City of Lake Macquarie The City of Lake Macquarie is a local government area in Greater Newcastle and part of the Hunter Region in New South Wales, Australia. It was proclaimed a city from 7 September 1984. The area is situated adjacent to the city of Newcastle and is ...

Greater Newcastle Newcastle ( ; Awabakal language, Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the City of Newcastle, Newcastle and City of Lake Macquarie, Lake Macquarie Local gov ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, located west of

Lake Macquarie The City of Lake Macquarie is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Greater Newcastle and part of the Hunter Region in New South Wales, Australia. It was proclaimed a city from 7 September 1984. The area is situated adjacent ...

. The Sydney-Newcastle railway line runs through

Fassifern railway station Fassifern railway station is located on the Main Northern line in New South Wales, Australia. It serves the City of Lake Macquarie suburb of Fassifern, opening in 1888. The station has three platforms, although only two are in use, the third ...

, which is a major station along the line. There used to be a branch line between Fassifern Station and nearby

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, but this has been replaced by a bus service, aptly named "The Train".

History

The Aboriginal people, in this area, the

Awabakal The Awabakal people , are those Aboriginal Australians who identify with or are descended from the Awabakal tribe and its clans, Indigenous to the coastal area of what is now known as the Hunter Region of New South Wales. Their traditional te ...

, were the first people of this land. Fassifern was first developed as a result of sawmill and coal mining operations in the area. The railway station opened in 1887. The first school, Fassifern Public School, was opened in 1922. From the late 19th century the Northumberland Coal Company operated the Northumberland Colliery, within walking distance from the railway station and to where a rail spur extended. This company operated several subsidiary coal companies. Further up the main line they had another colliery, Olstan, now long closed. In 1950 Northumberland Colliery was renamed Newstan Colliery and leased out to the NSW Electricity Commission, and operated until 2014. The mine is being investigated for a

pumped-storage hydroelectricity Pumped-storage hydroelectricity (PSH), or pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PHES), is a type of hydroelectric energy storage used by electric power systems for load balancing. The method stores energy in the form of gravitational potential ...

project. The collieries were named after Mr Stanley Croft, an early proprietor and manager of the coal company. The mine was a source for some of the local jobs in Fassifern and the surrounding suburbs. Recently Charlton Christian College (the name was changed from Lake Macquarie Christian College, reportedly to avoid confusion from

Macquarie College Macquarie College is an independent Seventh-day Adventist co-educational early learning, primary and secondary day school, located in the Newcastle suburb of Wallsend, New South Wales, Australia. The college is a part of the Seventh-day Adv ...

) was established.

Location

Fassifern is located on the western side of

in Fennell Bay, a small bay with

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...

and

she-oak The Casuarinaceae are a family of dicotyledonous flowering plants placed in the order Fagales, consisting of four genera and 91 species of trees and shrubs native to eastern Africa, Australia, Southeast Asia, Malesia, Papuasia, and the Pacific Is ...

trees on its shores. Some

petrified wood Petrified wood, also known as petrified tree (from Ancient Greek meaning 'rock' or 'stone'; literally 'wood turned into stone'), is the name given to a special type of ''fossilized wood'', the fossilized remains of terrestrial vegetation. ''P ...

exists in a part of the bay, which is said to be the remains of a petrified forest (many pieces of the wood have been taken). Fassifern also contains vast amounts of native bushland to the north and west.

Education

Fassifern Public School
(public, K-6)
Charlton Christian College
(private Christian, K-12)

References

External links

Energy storage plan for shuttered Fassifern coal mine
(ARENAWIRE)
History of Fassifern
(Lake Macquarie City Library) {{City of Lake Macquarie suburbs Suburbs of Lake Macquarie