Rathmines 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. ...

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 ...

on the western shore of Lake Macquarie between the towns 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 ...

and

Morisset Morisset ( ;) is a commercial centre and suburb of the City of Lake Macquarie local government area in the Hunter Region, Hunter region in New South Wales, Australia. Morisset is a part of the Greater Newcastle area, it is located west of the l ...

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. Rathmines was first settled by Europeans at around 1840. It was named after the town of

Rathmines Rathmines (; ) is an inner suburb on the Southside (Dublin), Southside of Dublin in Ireland. It begins at the southern side of the Grand Canal of Ireland, Grand Canal and stretches along the Rathmines Road as far as Rathgar to the south, Ranela ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. Orchards, vineyards and cattle were the early industries. The first school opened in 1941. A

RAAF The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the governor-general of Aus ...

base operated in Rathmines from 1939 to 1963. The artist Sir William Dobell was at one time responsible for the camouflage of the base. Rathmines is home to many sporting teams, most notably Westlakes Wildcats FC who play out of Rathmines Oval. Rathmines is home to Lake Macquarie's first disc golf course, located in park lands at Styles Point.

Heritage listings

Rathmines has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Dorrington Road:

RAAF Base Rathmines RAAF Base Rathmines is a heritage-listed former RAAF Second World War seaplane base and now used as community venues, sports venues and a visitor attraction at Dorrington Road, Rathmines, City of Lake Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia. It ...

References

External links

History of Rathmines
(Lake Macquarie City Library)
Rathmines Memorial Bowling Club

Rathmines Community Website & Forum
Suburbs of Lake Macquarie {{LakeMacquarie-geo-stub