Oyster Bay 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 ...

Southern Sydney Southern Sydney, also commonly referred to as the Southern suburbs, is the southern metropolitan area of Greater Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Southern Sydney is a title for the regions and neighbourhoods which fall dire ...

, 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 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 ...

. It is located 26 kilometres south 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 ...

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 federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

of the

Sutherland Shire Sutherland Shire is a local government area (LGA) in the southern region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Sutherland Shire is located approximately south-southwest of the Sydney CBD, and comprises an area of . As at the ...

Location

Oyster Bay is a natural feature on the southern bank 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 ...

. Green Point and Caravan Head are localities within the suburb of Oyster Bay. Green Point is home to the Green Point Observatory, home of the Sutherland Astronomical Society. Coronation Bay is also located on the Georges River between Green Point and Caravan Head. At Coronation Bay there is a large

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 ...

area that creates a diverse and dynamic eco-system, which supports a variety of bird-life. Carina Bay is located on the western boundary of the suburb.''The Book of Sydney Suburbs'', Compiled by Frances Pollon, ''

Angus & Robertson Angus & Robertson (A&R) is a major Australian bookseller, publisher and printer. As book publishers, A&R has contributed substantially to the promotion and development of Australian literature.Alison, Jennifer (2001). "Publishers and editors: A ...

'' 1990, , page 195

History

Oyster Bay takes its name from the abundance of

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but no ...

s that were found in the bay. The name had appeared on maps prepared by Surveyor Wells in 1840. Oyster Bay was part of the Thomas Holt Estate of 12,000 acres purchased in 1861 by Thomas Holt (1811-1888), pastoralist and at one time, Colonial Treasurer of New South Wales. His estate covered most of present-day Sutherland Shire. Parish maps dating from 1880 show Scylla and Carina Roads clearly dissecting the area known as Oyster Bay. These were boundary lines between the individual Holt acreages. The Parish Map of 1913 shows a subdivision, called "By the Water Estate", with an early alignment of Caravan Head, Como and Oyster Bay Roads. The first house, situated at 19 Como Road was built in 1910. It belonged to Samuel and Eliza Hall. A general store was opened in 1925. The 1925 Parish Map has "The Village of Oyster Bay" written on it. The suburb's name was officially recognised in 1933. Oyster Bay Public School was opened in 1945. Oyster Bay developed after this with post World War II migration creating a need for the release of land for housing. A feature of Oyster Bay is that steps and pathways, which were built during the 1930s, provide pedestrian access from the highest part of the suburb to the shops beside the bay. Steps and a pathway also lead from Green Point to Como, giving access to the old Como railway station and to Como Public School (est. 1921).

Commercial area

A small arrangement of shops is located at the intersection of Como Road and Oyster Bay Road, just above sea level. It includes a post office, chemist, a liquor shop, a café, a newsagency, and a bakery/café. Oyster Bay Public School is nearby.

Churches

Churches in Oyster Bay include St Joseph Catholic Church, located on the border of Oyster Bay & Como, Oyster Bay Baptist Church, located at Green Point and Kingsway Community Church.

School

Oyster Bay Public School
holds it annua
Arts and Craft festival
every year in the last weekend of May. The festival has taken place annually every year since 1980 with a 2020-22 hiatus caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Oyster Bay Public School is split between two locations on Phillip Street: primary site (Year 3-6) and the infants site (Kindergarten-Year 2), 300 metres up the road. There are two pre-schools in Oyster Bay. One is at Caravan Head, and another at Green Point in the same area as Green Point Observatory.

Parks

Oyster Bay Oval lies on the bay. It was reclaimed in the 1960s from the Mangroves which surround the bay. It is home to the local

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

& Cricket clubs. Caravan Head Bushland Reserve is located in the northern part of Oyster Bay.

Sport

There are a number of local clubs in other sports throughout Oyster Bay. Notable ones include

Transport

The area is serviced by

U-Go Mobility U-Go Mobility is a bus company in Sydney, Australia, that operates services in Region 10, which serves South Western Sydney, and Sutherland Shire. It is a 50:50 joint venture between UGL and Go-Ahead Group. History On 22 December 2022, U-Go Mo ...

buses, which travel around Caravan Head 10 times per day. It is a short distance from both Jannali railway station and Como railway station. Roads connect the suburb to the nearby

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 ...

Kareela Kareela is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. History Kareela was the first mixed-use estate developed by Stockland, developed in 1953. The estate was originally called Sylvan Headland. Sylvan Headland c ...

and to

Sutherland Sutherland () is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in the Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland. The name dates from the Scandinavian Scotland, Viking era when t ...

Population

According to the of Population, there were 5,689 people usually resident in Oyster Bay. 19.2% stated they were born overseas with the top countries of birth being England 4.2%, China 1.5%, New Zealand 1.4%, South Africa 0.6% and Ireland 0.5%. English was stated as the only language spoken at home by 88.3% of residents and the most common other languages spoken were Mandarin 1.4%, Greek 1.3%, Cantonese 0.6%, German 0.5% and Spanish 0.5%. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 36.2%,

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

28.9%,

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

17.1%, Eastern Orthodox 3.6% and Not stated 3.0%.

Notable residents

* Rachel & Ryan Carr, 2nd place on the 18th season of the Australian reality TV competition The Block, The Block: Tree Change

References

* Sydney UBD Street Directory, 1996 Edition.
History of Sutherland Shire Placenames

External links

Oyster Bay access guide
{{Sydney Sutherland suburbs Suburbs of Sydney Bays of New South Wales Sutherland Shire