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'The Inundations at Marrickville: Rescuing the Homeless' May 1889

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National Library of Australia
[nla.news-page5789381]
(Illustrated Sydney News, 6 June 1889 p 14)

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Damming the Cooks River From a fine stream to an industrial watercourse Sydenham
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Accidents and disasters Animals Boats Floods Housing
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Marrickville Sydenham Tramvale estate

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National Library of Australia

Sydenham

Part of the rich lands of the Cadigal people, Sydenham was late to develop because of the Gumbramorra Swamp which covered most of the western part. It grew into a thriving industrial and workers' suburb with a few large villas, but was gutted in the late twentieth century by the effects of aircraft noise from Sydney Airport. The demolition of 152 houses created Sydenham Green, a large park.

From a fine stream to an industrial watercourse

As Sydney expanded in the nineteenth century the picturesque waterways and valleys of the Cooks River were to host a network of waterworks and rail and road infrastructure that were to degrade the landscape forever.

Damming the Cooks River

Once considered 'the greatest boon ever conferred upon the town', the Cooks River dam became an endless source of environmental blight and misery to Sydneysiders and by the turn of the century was demolished

Floods

Accidents and disasters

Animals

Boats

Housing

Marrickville

Inner-western residential suburb with an industrial heritage on the Cooks River, named after the Marrick estate of Thomas Chalder which was subdivided in 1855. The post-Second World War period saw the influx of mainly non-English speaking people, attracted by the availability of factory work and cheap housing.

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Sydenham

Small inner-west suburb named after the district in London. Becoming an industrial and residential suburb after the railway came through in 1884, it was partially depopulated by the aircraft noise of Sydney Airport during the 1990s.

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Tramvale estate

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Short-lived subdivision at Marrickville adjacent to Sydenham Road between the Illawarra Railway and Victoria Road. Also known as Tram Vale Flats, it was named after the tramway that ran just to its west. The estate was established in 1881 on land reclaimed from Gumbramorra swamp, but after years of disastrous flooding because of the poor drainage, by the turn of the century the properties were resumed by the government, the land drained and the area designated as suitable for industrial development.