The Spit is an urban locality in the

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 separ ...

of Mosman 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 Mounta ...

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 country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. The Aboriginal word for The Spit is ''Burra Bra''. The Spit is located 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

Municipality of Mosman Mosman Council is a local government area on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Mayor of Mosman Council is Cr. Carolyn Corrigan, a representative of the Serving Mosman independent political group since 9 Septembe ...

and is part of the Lower North Shore.

Landmarks

The Spit protrudes off Beauty Point and is home to the Spit Bridge, a bascule bridge opened in 1958 over

Middle Harbour Middle Harbour (or ''Warrin ga''), a semi–mature tide dominated drowned valley estuary, is the northern arm of Port Jackson, an inlet of the Tasman Sea located north of Sydney central business district on the coast of New South Wales, Austra ...

. The bridge opens at set times to allow yachts with high masts to pass. The Spit is the site of the Middle Harbour Yacht Club and a marina.

History

From as early as 1834, a ferry operated by Barney Kearns carried passengers across the waters of

. From the 1850s, a punt operated by Peter Ellery, carried passengers across for sixpence and

horse-drawn vehicle A horse-drawn vehicle is a mechanized piece of equipment pulled by one horse or by a team of horses. These vehicles typically had two or four wheels and were used to carry passengers and/or a load. They were once common worldwide, but they have m ...

s were charged 1s 6d. If the horses swam across, there was a reduction of sixpence. In 1889, it was replaced by a government steam punt. A wooden bridge was opened in 1924 after the electric

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ...

lines were extended to the Spit. This was replaced by the bascule bridge in 1958, which was needed to cope with heavy traffic from the

Sydney CBD The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main 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 city centre is often refer ...

to the

Northern Beaches The Northern Beaches is a region within Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, near the Pacific coast. This area extends south to the entrance of Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour), west to Middle Harbour and north to the ...

. Chinamans Beach was named after the Chinese residents who had market gardens and salt pans there,''The Book of Sydney Suburbs'', Compiled by Frances Pollen, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1990, Published in Australia , page 245 it is now a popular family beach.

Heritage listings

The Spit has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Monash Crescent (East Side):

Middle Harbour Syphon The Middle Harbour Syphon is a heritage-listed sewerage syphon located at Monash Crescent (East Side), Clontarf, Northern Beaches Council, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by E. M. de Burgh, an engineer in the NSW Public Works Dep ...

References

Sydney localities Mosman, New South Wales {{Sydney-geo-stub