Fassifern 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 ...

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 ...

, located west of Lake Macquarie. The Sydney–Newcastle railway line runs through

Fassifern railway station Fassifern railway station is a heritage-listed railway station located on the Main Northern line in New South Wales, Australia. It serves the City of Lake Macquarie suburb of Fassifern, opening in 1888. The station has three platforms, altho ...

, which is a major station along the line. There used to be a branch line between Fassifern Station and nearby

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 ...

, but this has been replaced by a bus service, aptly named "The Train".

History

The Aboriginal people, in this area, the

Awabakal The Awabakal people , are those Aboriginal Australians who identify with or are descended from the Awabakal tribe and its clans, Indigenous to the coastal area of what is now known as the Hunter Region of New South Wales. Their traditional te ...

, were the first people of this land. Fassifern was first developed as a result of sawmill and coal mining operations in the area. The railway station opened in 1887. The first school, Fassifern Public School, was opened in 1922. From the late 19th century the Northumberland Coal Company operated the Northumberland Colliery, within walking distance from the railway station and to where a rail spur extended. This company operated several subsidiary coal companies. Further up the main line they had another colliery, Olstan, now long closed. In 1950 Northumberland Colliery was renamed Newstan Colliery and leased out to the NSW Electricity Commission, and operated until 2014. The mine is being investigated for a

pumped-storage hydroelectricity Pumped-storage hydroelectricity (PSH), or pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PHES), is a type of hydroelectric energy storage used by electric power systems for load balancing (electrical power), load balancing. A PSH system stores energy i ...

project. The collieries were named after Mr Stanley Croft, an early proprietor and manager of the coal company. The mine was a source for some of the local jobs in Fassifern and the surrounding suburbs. Recently Charlton Christian College (the name was changed from Lake Macquarie Christian College, reportedly to avoid confusion from Macquarie College) was established.

Location

Fassifern is located on the western side of Lake Macquarie in Fennell Bay, a small bay with

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...

and

she-oak The Casuarinaceae are a family of dicotyledonous flowering plants placed in the order Fagales, consisting of four genera and 91 species of trees and shrubs native to eastern Africa, Australia, Southeast Asia, Malesia, Papuasia, and the Pacific Is ...

trees on its shores. Some

petrified wood Petrified wood (from Ancient Greek meaning 'rock' or 'stone'; literally 'wood turned into stone'), is the name given to a special type of ''fossilized wood'', the fossilized remains of terrestrial plant, terrestrial vegetation. ''Petrifaction ...

exists in a part of the bay, which is said to be the remains of a petrified forest (many pieces of the wood have been taken). Fassifern also contains vast amounts of native bushland to the north and west.

Education

Fassifern Public School
(public, K–6)
Charlton Christian College
(private Christian, K–12)

References

External links

Energy storage plan for shuttered Fassifern coal mine
(ARENAWIRE)
History of Fassifern
(Lake Macquarie City Library) {{City of Lake Macquarie suburbs Suburbs of Lake Macquarie