Waterfall is a small suburb in

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 know ...

, 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. It is 40 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district in 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 ...

. It is the southernmost suburb of Sydney in the eastern corridor, bordering the

Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal region in the Australian state of New South Wales, nestled between the mountains and the sea. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast region. It encompasses the two cities of Wollongo ...

region.

Geography

Waterfall is bordered to the north by the suburb of

Heathcote Heathcote may refer to: Places in Australia *Heathcote, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney **Electoral district of Heathcote, a seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly **Heathcote National Park ** Parish of Heathcote a parish of Cumberla ...

, with

Engadine Engadine may refer to: Places *Engadin, Engadin(e), a valley region in Switzerland *Engadine, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia *Engadine, Michigan, unincorporated community in Michigan *Engadine (Candler, North Carolina), a building l ...

further north; by The Royal National Park to the east; and by

Heathcote National Park Heathcote National Park is a protected national park that is located in the southern region of Sydney, New South Wales in eastern Australia, and is situated on Dharawal country. The national park is situated approximately southwest of the ...

to the west.

Helensburgh Helensburgh (; gd, Baile Eilidh) is an affluent coastal town on the north side of the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, situated at the mouth of the Gareloch. Historically in Dunbartonshire, it became part of Argyll and Bute following local gove ...

is the next town, traveling south. Waterfall marks the southern border of the

. It is approximately 230 metres above sea level. Waterfall has only seven streets. The bushland gives the small suburb a natural surrounding and walking tracks lead from it into the neighboring national parks. To the west is a dammed lake and behind it is Mount Westmacott.

History

Waterfall began in 1884 as a railway construction workers' camp and staging point for the construction of the South Coast Railway between Sydney and

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wa ...

in the late 19th century. The site was the last point where the railway alignment and Illawarra Road (now Princes Highway) were in close proximity. A large number of railway construction workers were needed for the extensive excavation and tunnelling works beyond Waterfall to the south. It is the site of the highest point on the line, with a steep rising gradient at one end, and a falling gradient at the other end, and sidings were provided in both directions to allow freight wagons to be stowed and shunted. A reservoir was built nearby and water pumped to the railway to re-water steam trains after their ascent. The original Waterfalls railway station opened in 1886. This railway station, railway buildings and houses were located 600m to the south of the present station and the school opened nearby. As rail traffic and facilities grew, the railway was duplicated and a larger, permanent settlement became established. Waterfall derived its name either from the

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in severa ...

s close to the railway station or from steam trains re-watering or making their 'fall' for water. A South Waterfall existed until 1914. McKell Avenue, the southern border of the Royal National Park, was originally called Waterfall Road. The Waterfall State Sanatorium was established in 1909 for the treatment of tuberculosis patients, some of whom were forcibly quarantined. Later, the facility was used for quarantine treatment during the

influenza pandemic An influenza pandemic is an epidemic of an influenza virus that spreads across a large region (either multiple continents or worldwide) and infects a large proportion of the population. There have been six major influenza epidemics in the last ...

. The facility had its own cemetery. Later still, it became the Garrawarra Hospital and Garrawarra Centre age care facility. Construction of

Woronora Dam The Woronora Dam is a heritage-listed concrete gravity dam with an uncontrolled serpentine spillway across the Woronora River, located south of Greater Metropolitan Sydney, in the suburb of Woronora Dam, Sutherland Shire, New South Wales, ...

, southwest of Waterfall, from 1927, contributed to the growth of the settlement. A nudist community was established to the southwest of the settlement. A Boy Scout camp was built on a Crown lease to the west of the settlement. In 1973 Australia's first Community Advanced Driver Training Centre was opened in Waterfall but closed a few years later. Bushfires have been a recurrent danger and destroyed Waterfall houses. On 3 November 1980, five volunteer firefighters were killed by a fireball that engulfed them and their truck on the Uloola track just east of the settlement. The Waterfall train collision on 20 December 1994 involved two S-set electric trains which collided at low speed in the early hours of the morning during a shunting procedure at Waterfall station in the south of Sydney. Both trains were empty of passengers. Carriages jack-knifed in spectacular fashion onto the platform, causing demolition of a concrete ramp to the overbridge and part of the station canopy. The Waterfall train disaster on 31 January 2003 involved an interurban train service operated by unit G7, which crashed just past Waterfall. The cause of G7's crash was determined to be the

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

of the driver and a failure of the safety equipment and the guard to stop the train.

Heritage listings

Waterfall has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Woronora Dam Road:

Population

In the 2016 Census, there were 494 people in Waterfall. 85.4% of people were born in Australia and 91.3% of people only spoke English at home. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 29.6% and Anglican 28.2%.

Transport

Waterfall is the last suburb heading south on the Princes Highway before it leads into the

Princes Motorway The Princes Motorway is a predominantly dual carriage untolled motorway that links Sydney to Wollongong and further south through the Illawarra region to . Part of the Australian Highway 1 network, the motorway is designated with the route ...

(formerly known as the F6 freeway) to the city of

. Waterfall railway station is the terminus for the

Sydney Trains Sydney Trains is the operator of the suburban passenger rail network serving the city of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The network is a hybrid urban-suburban rail system with a central underground core that covers over of track and 170 ...

suburban

Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line The Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line (numbered T4, coloured azure blue) is a commuter railway line in the eastern and southern suburbs of Sydney and is a part of the Sydney Trains network. The line was constructed in the 1880s to Wollongong to ...

. However, some trains do terminate one stop further on at Helensburgh. Waterfall is also a stop on the NSW TrainLink

South Coast Line The South Coast Line is an intercity rail service operated by NSW TrainLink that services the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The service runs from , and runs the entire length of the eponymous South Coast railway line to . T ...

, with platform 1 to Sydney terminal, platform 2 to Port Kembla, Dapto and Kiama.

Education

Its local primary school has only two rooms which have

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th ce ...

to 2nd class in one room, and 3rd class to 6th class in another.

Tourism

Waterfall is connected by a pair of hiking trails, the Couranga and Lake Cooloomba, which lead through vast tracts of bushland within two national parks.

References

{{coord, 34, 08, S, 151, 00, E, region:AU-NSW_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki, display=title Suburbs of Sydney Sutherland Shire