Blackalls Park is a
suburb
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...
of the
City of Lake Macquarie
The City of Lake Macquarie is a local government area (LGA) in the Hunter Region in New South Wales, Australia. It was proclaimed a city on 7 September 1984. It is adjacent to the city of Newcastle and is part of the Greater Newcastle area. ...
,
Greater Newcastle
Newcastle, also commonly referred to as Greater Newcastle ( ; ), is a large Metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the second-most-populous such area of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the cities of City of Newcastle, Newcastle and Ci ...
in
New South Wales
New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
to the immediate north-west of the town of
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
on a bay west of
Lake Macquarie
The City of Lake Macquarie is a local government area (LGA) in the Hunter Region in New South Wales, Australia. It was proclaimed a city on 7 September 1984. It is adjacent to the city of Newcastle and is part of the Greater Newcastle area. The ...
.
History
Early industries were farming and broom-making.
Blackalls Park was named after the first family to live in the area, the Blackall family. Thomas Blackall and his father were phramacists and dentists. Thomas was mayor.
Ruby Blackall was a leading campaigner for the ''Adult Deaf and Dumb Society of New South Wales''.
Blackalls Park was originally named Blackall Platform due to the, now unused, rail station in the area. The name was changed to Blackalls but then changed to Blackalls Park due to mail being sent to a town with a similar town,
Blackall, Queensland
Blackall is a rural town and locality in the Blackall-Tambo Region, Queensland, Australia. The town is the service centre for the Blackall-Tambo Region. The dominant industry in the area is grazing with over 70 homesteads in the locality (a ...
.
In 1891, a tramway between
Fassifern and
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
opened.
Due to the Blackall family being the only people boarding the platform, the area was to become known as Blackall Platform.
This became the
Toronto railway line, but was later replaced by a bus service in the 1990s.
The public primary school was opened in 1954 and services about 245 children (December 2012). It is a feeder school for Toronto High School, approximately 1.5 km to the south.
Blackalls Park is located on an inlet of Lake Macquarie. Small creeks also are found near the lake – Stoney Creek in the south-east separating Blackalls Park from Toronto, and LT Creek just 70 metres north-east of Fassifern Railway Station at the northern extremity of Blackalls Park's suburban limit.
In the mid-1980s, Blackalls Park acquired a small shopping village with a hardware store, a combined newsagency/post-office, a pharmacy, a mini-mart (small general store), a hot-bread shop, a hot food takeaway shop and a hairdresser. This was on the corner of Faucett Street and the main road connecting Toronto with Fassifern and Fennell Bay.
By 1989, a second smaller collection of shops opened at the corner of Centre Street and the main road. It had a large bottle shop (liquor store), a Chinese restaurant, a hairdressing salon and a small shop that sold toys and was later a Beany Babies (TM) outlet when that fad was at the peak of its popularity.
References
External links
History of Blackalls Park(Lake Macquarie City Library)
{{City of Lake Macquarie suburbs
Suburbs of Lake Macquarie