Strawberry Hills is an official Urban Place in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, 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 ...

. Strawberry Hills is located east of Central railway station, within the suburbs of

Surry Hills Surry Hills is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Surry Hills is immediately south-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Sydney. Surry Hills is surroun ...

and Redfern which are part of 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

City of Sydney The City of Sydney is the local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament in 1842, th ...

. The origin of the name is unknown. The neighbourhood features mostly mixed commercial/residential & business developments with medium to high density residential developments, including terrace housing and newer apartment blocks. Strawberry Hills is also the home of a number of significant cultural organisations including

Opera Australia Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House accompanied by the Opera Australia Orchestra runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of ...

, The Australia Council for the Arts, and numerous notable entertainment venues including the

Belvoir Street Theatre Belvoir is an Australian theatre company based at the Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney, Australia, originally known as Company B. Since 2016 and its artistic director is Eamon Flack. The theatre contains a 330-seat Upstairs Theatre and a 80-seat ...

and the Strawberry Hills Hotel, a renowned

traditional A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

Australian jazz venue located on Elizabeth Street. Image:Strawberry Hills 1.JPG,

Australia Post Australia Post, formally the Australian Postal Corporation, is the government business enterprise that provides postal services in Australia. The head office of Australia Post is located in Bourke Street, Melbourne, which also serves as a post o ...

NSW headquarters File:Cleveland st boys high sydney.jpg, Cleveland Street High School

History

The area originally known as Strawberry Hill, was named after the hill centred under 'Northcott Place' at Surry Hills. Strawberry Hill was part of a 70-acre land grant to John Palmer in 1794. Facing substantial debts, his holdings were subdivided into large blocks for the Provost Marshal's Sale of 1814. John Connell farmed the largest of these blocks south of Devonshire Street. He sold the property to Thomas Horton James, who subdivided the block as the Strawberry Hill Estate in 1832. Strawberry Hill was a huge mound of sand, made mobile in the 1820s by the destruction of undergrowth by woodcutters, turfcutters, graziers and quarriers. During the 1830s the sand began to advance on the new Strawberry Hill Estate. Unregulated and unrestrained low-cost housing developed in the area. By the 1870s the area was well known for its poor sanitary conditions. After the construction of the Central Railway Station and associated resumptions and demolition, industry became established in Surry Hills, with warehouses springing up in streets like Marshall Street. Inner-city housing stock became depleted. A cycling velodrome and associated sporting facility was built on Strawberry Hill in the early 20th century. After World War II, regeneration of Surry Hills as a residential area began with an influx of migrants and change of policy. The

New South Wales Housing Commission Housing NSW, formerly the Housing Commission of New South Wales and before that the New South Wales Housing Board, was an government agency, agency of the Department of Communities and Justice that was responsible for the provision and management ...

demolished the original housing stock and built three storey

medium-density housing Medium-density housing is a term used within urban planning and academic literature to refer to a category of residential development that falls between detached suburban housing and large multi-story buildings. There is no singular definition of m ...

on Devonshire and Clisdell Streets. By 1961 the fifteen-storey tower "Northcott Place" was completed on Strawberry Hill.

References

{{Sydney City of Sydney suburbs Sydney localities Surry Hills, New South Wales