Oyster Bay 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 ...

Southern Sydney Southern Sydney is the southern metropolitan area of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Southern Sydney includes the suburbs in the local government areas of Georges River Council and part of Bayside Council (collectively known ...

, in the state of

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 ...

. It is located 26 kilometres south of the

Sydney central business district The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main Central business district, commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or c ...

in the

local government area 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 (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

of the

Sutherland Shire Sutherland Shire is a local government area in the southern region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Sutherland Shire comprises an area of and as at the had an estimated population of . Sutherland Shire is colloquially ...

Location

Oyster Bay is a natural feature on the southern bank of the

Georges River The Georges River, also known as Tucoerah River, is an intermediate tide-dominated drowned valley estuary, located to the south and west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The river travels for approximately in a north and then easterly ...

. Green Point and Caravan Head are localities within the suburb of Oyster Bay. Green Point is home to the

Green Point Observatory Green Point Observatory is a private observatory in Oyster Bay, Sydney, Australia, and is the home of the Sutherland Astronomical Society Sutherland Astronomical Society Incorporated (SASI) (previously known as the James Cook Astronomers ...

, home of the

Sutherland Astronomical Society Sutherland Astronomical Society Incorporated (SASI) (previously known as the James Cook Astronomers Club) is an amateur astronomical society based in the Sutherland Shire, in the southern suburbs of Sydney, Australia. It operates the Green Po ...

. Coronation Bay is also located on the Georges River between Green Point and Caravan Head. At Coronation Bay there is a large

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 ...

area that creates a diverse and dynamic eco-system, which supports a variety of bird-life. Carina Bay is located on the western boundary of the suburb.

History

Oyster Bay takes its name from the abundance of

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not al ...

s that were found in the bay. The name had appeared on maps prepared by Surveyor Wells in 1840. Oyster Bay was part of the Thomas Holt Estate of 12,000 acres purchased in 1861 by Thomas Holt (1811-1888), pastoralist and at one time, Colonial Treasurer of New South Wales. His estate covered most of present-day Sutherland Shire. Parish maps dating from 1880 show Scylla and Carina Roads clearly dissecting the area known as Oyster Bay. These were boundary lines between the individual Holt acreages. The Parish Map of 1913 shows a subdivision, called "By the Water Estate", with an early alignment of Caravan Head, Como and Oyster Bay Roads. The first house, situated at 19 Como Road was built in 1910. It belonged to Samuel and Eliza Hall. A general store was opened in 1925. The 1925 Parish Map has "The Village of Oyster Bay" written on it. The suburb's name was officially recognised in 1933. Oyster Bay Public School was opened in 1945. Oyster Bay developed after this with post World War II migration creating a need for the release of land for housing. A feature of Oyster Bay is that steps and pathways, which were built during the 1930s, provide pedestrian access from the highest part of the suburb to the shops beside the bay. Steps and a pathway also lead from Green Point to Como, giving access to the old Como railway station and to Como Public School (est. 1921).

Commercial area

A small arrangement of shops is located at the intersection of Como Road and Oyster Bay Road, just above sea level. It includes a post office, chemist, a liquor shop, a café, a newsagency, and a bakery/café. Oyster Bay Public School is nearby.

Churches

Churches in Oyster Bay include St Joseph Catholic Church, located on the border of Oyster Bay & Como, Oyster Bay Baptist Church, located at Green Point and Kingsway Community Church.

School

Oyster Bay Public School
holds it annua
Arts and Craft festival
every year in the last weekend of May. The festival has taken place annually every year since 1980 with a 2020-22 hiatus caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Oyster Bay Public School is split between two locations on Phillip Street: primary site (Year 3-6) and the infants site (Kindergarten-Year 2), 300 metres up the road. There are two pre-schools in Oyster Bay. One is at Caravan Head, and another at Green Point in the same area as

Parks

Oyster Bay Oval lies on the bay. It was reclaimed in the 1960s from the Mangroves which surround the bay. It is home to the local

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

& Cricket clubs. There is also a small public park at the corner of Green Point and Caravan Head Roads. The Green Point Observatory was built here in 1969.

Caravan Head Bushland Reserve Caravan Head Bushland Reserve is a reserve approximately 2.2ha located in Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The reserve is bounded by Caravan Head Road, Cook Road and private propert ...

is located in the northern part of Oyster Bay.

Sport

There are a number of local clubs in other sports throughout Oyster Bay. Notable ones include

Transport

The area is serviced by

Transdev NSW Transdev NSW is a bus operator in the northern, southern and western suburbs of Sydney, Australia, operating on behalf of Transport for NSW. It is a subsidiary of Transdev Australasia. It is a different subsidiary to Transdev John Holland, whi ...

buses, which travel around Caravan Head 10 times per day. It is a short distance from both

Jannali railway station Jannali railway station is located on the Illawarra line, serving the Sydney suburb of Jannali. It is served by Sydney Trains T4 line services. History Jannali station opened on 7 February 1931. The development was requested and largely funde ...

and Como railway station. Roads connect the suburb to the nearby

Princes Highway Princes Highway is a major road in Australia, extending from Sydney via Melbourne to Adelaide through the states of New South Wales, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and South Australia. It has a length of (along Highway 1) or via the former ...

Kareela Kareela is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. History Kareela was the first mixed-use estate developed by Stockland, developed in 1953. The estate was originally called Sylvan Headland. Sylvan Headland ...

and to

Sutherland Sutherland ( gd, Cataibh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the Highlands of Scotland. Its county town is Dornoch. Sutherland borders Caithness and Moray Firth to the east, Ross-shire and Cromartyshire (later ...

Population

According to the 2006

Australian Bureau of Statistics The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is the independent statutory agency of the Australian Government responsible for statistical collection and analysis and for giving evidence-based advice to federal, state and territory governments ...

Census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of Population, there were 4,907 people usually resident in Oyster Bay. 15.0% stated they were born overseas with the top countries of birth being United Kingdom 5.1%, New Zealand 1.2% and South Africa 0.6%. English was stated as the only language spoken at home by 90.7% of residents and the most common other languages spoken were Greek 1.8%, Italian 0.9% and Cantonese 0.7%. The most common responses for religion were

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

31.7%,

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

26.6%, No Religion 19.2%,

Uniting Church The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was founded on 22 June 1977, when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of the Congregational Union ...

5.4% and Eastern Orthodox 3.9%.

Notable residents

* Rachel & Ryan Carr, 2nd place on the 18th season of the Australian reality TV competition The Block, The Block: Tree Change

References

* Sydney UBD Street Directory, 1996 Edition.
History of Sutherland Shire Placenames

External links

Oyster Bay access guide
{{Sydney Sutherland suburbs Suburbs of Sydney Bays of New South Wales Sutherland Shire