Glen Oak is a small community in the

Hunter Region The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and so ...

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 ...

, shared between the Port Stephens and

Dungog Dungog is a country town on the Williams River in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. Located in the middle of dairy and timber country, it is the centre of the Dungog Shire local government area and at the 2016 census it had a po ...

local government areas A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a state, province, division, or territory. The phrase i ...

(LGA). Approximately two thirds of the suburb's is located within the Port Stephens LGA while the remaining third, which is sparsely populated, is located in Dungog Shire. Glen Oak was originally a small town, settled in the 19th century as a river port. During the late 19th and early 20th century the town included a community hall, post office, public school and general store. Declining river trade affected Glen Oak and by the 1950s much of the village itself had been abandoned. Today, very little is left to indicate that a town ever existed. However, the School of Arts hall on Clarence Town Road, built in 1899 and possibly the last community-owned hall in Australia, still stands and is used for various social activities. At the entrance to the hall are two pillars commemorating local men from the area who fought in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Only a handful of Glen Oak's original homesteads still exist, the oldest of which is Thomas Holmes' "Oakendale" (circa 1830, damaged by fire in 1909). There were also at least two homesteads overlooking the Williams River at "Langlands" between 1857 and 1970. The older of the two was destroyed by fire at about 2:30am on the morning of 20 June 1889. The second homestead, built sometime before 1892, fell into disrepair after the Second World War and was demolished in the 1970s.

Notes

References

* {{Suburbs of Port Stephens Suburbs of Port Stephens Council Suburbs of Dungog Shire