Kogarah () 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
Southern Sydney, in the state of
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. Kogarah is located 14 kilometres (9 miles) south-west of the
Sydney central business district
The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main Central business district, 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 ...
and is considered to be the centre of the
St George
Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the R ...
area.
Location
Kogarah took its name from Kogarah Bay, a small
bay
A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...
on the northern shore of the
Georges River
The Georges River, also known as Tucoerah River, is an intermediate tide-dominated Ria, drowned valley estuary, that is located in Sydney, Australia. The Georges River is located south and south-west from the Sydney central business district, w ...
. The suburb originally stretched to the bay but has since been divided up to form the separate suburbs of
Kogarah Bay and
Beverley Park.
Kogarah has a mixture of residential, commercial and light industrial areas. It is also known for its large number of schools (including primary school, high school and tertiary education) and health care services (including two hospitals and many medical centres). The
NRL
The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...
side,
St George Illawarra Dragons
The St. George Illawarra Dragons are an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since 1999 after a j ...
have their
Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
office based at nearby
Jubilee Oval
Jubilee Stadium (also known as Kogarah Oval) is a multi-purpose stadium in Carlton, a suburb in Sydney, Australia. The stadium is mainly used for rugby league and the A-League, and is one of the home grounds of the National Rugby League (NRL) ...
, often referred to as Kogarah Oval. Kogarah features all types of residential developments from low density detached houses, to medium density flats and high density high-rise apartments.
History
Kogarah is derived from an
Aboriginal word meaning ''rushes or place of reeds''.
It had also been written as 'Coggera', 'Cogerah' and 'Kuggerah' but the current spelling was settled when the railway line came through the area in the 1880s.
Early land grants in the area were made to John Townson (1760–1835) who received from 1808 to 1810, centred on
Hurstville
Hurstville is a suburb in Southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is south of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD and is part of the St George, New South Wales, St George area. Hurstville is the administrative centre of ...
and James Chandler, whose neighbouring estate was centred on
Bexley
Bexley is an area of south-eastern Greater London, England and part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is sometimes known as Bexley Village or Old Bexley to differentiate the area from the wider borough. It is located east-southeast of Ch ...
. The district provided fruit, vegetables and oysters for Sydney. In 1869, St Paul's Church of England opened on Rocky Point Road (now Princes Highway). It was built on of land given to the church by William Wolfen the Swedish Consul to Sydney, who owned in Kogarah. The suburb grew around the church and the Gardeners Arms Hotel. Kogarah became a municipality in 1885.
The former neighbourhood of Moorefield is now part of Kogarah. It was originally a land grant from
Governor Lachlan Macquarie in 1812 to Patrick Moore, who built a fine house there. The Moorefield racecourse built by a descendant opened in 1888.
Brigadier General John Lamrock
Brigadier General John Lamrock, (25 December 1859 – 19 July 1935) was a senior Australian soldier who served during World War I, and a horse racing administrator.
Early life
Lamrock was born at Kurrajong, New South Wales, on 25 December 18 ...
CB VD was appointed secretary of the Moorefield Race Club in 1912 and remained in that position until early in 1935. The Moorefield estate was subdivided in the 1950s and the Department of Education purchased , where it built two high schools and college of further education. Moorefields Girls High School was erected there in 1955 on the former site of Moore's farm.
Heritage listings
Kogarah has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
* Toomevara Lane:
Toomevara Lane Chinese Market Gardens
Demographics
According to the 2021
Australian Bureau of Statistics
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is an List of Australian Government entities, Australian Government agency that collects and analyses statistics on economic, population, Natural environment, environmental, and social issues to advi ...
Census
A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of Population, there were 16,416 people in Kogarah. 36.3% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were Nepal 11.3%, China 8.2%, India 6.0%, the Philippines 3.9% and Bangladesh 2.9%. 30.4% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Nepali 11.6%, Mandarin 7.8%, Cantonese 5.3%, Greek 4.8% and Bengali 3.7%. The most common responses for religious affiliation were No Religion 22.7%, Catholic 17.8%, Hinduism 16.8% and Eastern Orthodox 9.5%.
Notable people
*
Dave Brownrugby league star of the 1930s was born in Kogarah
*
Ray Burton singer and songwriter
* Rev Dr
Rowland Crouchertheologian and author, lived in Warialda Street in the early years of married life while he was a staffworker with the InterVarsity Fellowship. His wife Jan taught at Kogarah High School
*
Reg Gasnier
Reginald William "Reg" Gasnier (12 May 1939 – 11 May 2014) was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach. He played for the St. George Dragons from 1959 to 1967 and represented Australia in a then record 36 Tests and three World Cup g ...
rugby league legend lived in Kogarah
*
Clive James
Clive James (born Vivian Leopold James; 7 October 1939 – 24 November 2019) was an Australian critic, journalist, broadcaster, writer and lyricist who lived and worked in the United Kingdom from 1962 until his death in 2019.[Sam Konstas
Sam James Konstas (born 2 October 2005) is an Australian international cricketer who plays for the Australian national team, New South Wales in the Sheffield Shield and Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League. He is a right-handed top-order batt ...]
Test cricketer
*
Ronald Sharporgan builder was born in Kogarah
*
Kenneth Slessor
Kenneth Adolphe Slessor (27 March 190130 June 1971) was an Australian poet, journalist and official war correspondent in World War II. He was one of Australia's leading poets, notable particularly for the absorption of modernist influences int ...
one of Australia's greatest poets, attended Kogarah Primary School, in the early 20th century. The family lived in Belgrave Street, according to his biographer, Geoffrey Dutton
*
Steve Smith former captain of Australia national cricket team, was born and raised in Kogarah
*
Henry Thorntoncricketer, was born and raised in Kogarah
*
Brandon Wakeham
Brandon Wakeham (born 11 January 1999) is a Fiji national rugby league team, Fiji international rugby league footballer who plays as a or for the Manly Sea Eagles in the NSW Cup& NRL.
He previously played for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldo ...
rugby league player, was born and raised in Kogarah
Transportation
Kogarah railway station
Kogarah railway station is located on the Illawarra line, serving the Sydney suburb of Kogarah. It is served by Sydney Trains' T4 Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line services.
History
Kogarah station opened on 15 October 1884 on the same date ...
is served by
Sydney Trains
Sydney Trains is the brand name and operator of Railways in Sydney, suburban and intercity train services in and around Greater Sydney in New South Wales, Australia.
The metropolitan part of the network is a hybrid urban rail, urban-suburban r ...
T4 line services.
The
Princes Highway
Princes Highway is a major road in Australia, extending from Sydney via Melbourne to Adelaide through the states of New South Wales, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and South Australia. It has a length of (along Highway 1) or via the former ...
is the main road through Kogarah.
Schools and churches
Schools
*Kogarah Public School
*
Kogarah High School
*
James Cook Boys Technology High School
James Cook Boys Technology High School is a boys' secondary school situated on Princes Highway in Kogarah, Australia. The school is named after Captain James Cook, who was the first recorded European to contact the eastern coastline of Australi ...
*Moorefield Girls High School
*St Declan’s Catholic Primary School
*
St George Girls High School
St George Girls' High School (SGGHS) is a government-funded single-sex academically selective secondary day school for girls, located in Kogarah, in the southern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Established in 1916 and ope ...
*St Patrick's Primary School (co-ed)
*
Marist College Kogarah
Marist College Kogarah is an independent Roman Catholic single sex secondary day school for boys, located in Bexley, a suburb located in the St George region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
The college was founded in 1909, and has ...
(boys, secondary)
*Sydney Institute of
TAFE
Technical and further education or simply TAFE () is the common name in Australia for vocational education, as a subset of tertiary education. TAFE institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational courses. Colloquially also known ...
: St. George Campus
Churches
*Resurrection of Christ Greek Orthodox Church
*Grace Chinese Christian Church
*Kogarah Soldiers' Memorial Presbyterian Church (Kirkplace)
*St Patrick's Catholic Church
*St Paul's Anglican Church
*Christ Church St George (Anglican), and Church in the Bank (Anglican)
*Christ Living Church (Indonesian Church)
*Kogarah Uniting Church
File:Kogarah High School.JPG, Kogarah High School
File:Kogarah_St_Pauls_Anglican 1.JPG, St Paul's Anglican Church
File:Kogarah Greek Orthodox 1.JPG, Resurrection of Christ Greek Orthodox Church
References
External links
Georges River Council websiteBayside Council website2001 Census Information
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kogarah, New South Wales
Suburbs of Sydney
1885 establishments in Australia
Populated places established in 1885
Jewellery districts