Macdonaldtown, New South Wales

Macdonaldtown is an urban place in Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 4 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, adjacent to the suburbs of Newtown and Erskineville. Macdonaldtown is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney and informally part of the region of the Inner West. The locality is around Macdonaldtown railway station, on the Inner West line of the Sydney Trains network.

Macdonaldtown
Sydney, New South Wales
Macdonaldtown railway station entrance
Postcode(s)2042
Location4 km (2 mi) south-west of Sydney CBD
LGA(s)City of Sydney
Localities around Macdonaldtown:
Camperdown Darlington Darlington
Newtown Macdonaldtown Eveleigh
Newtown Erskineville Eveleigh

History

The area was originally part of a grant made to Irishman Nicholas Devine, who arrived in 1790 as the first principal superintendent of convicts. Devine built his homestead near the corner of Erskineville Road and George Street. An error about the naming of Macdonaldtown is often repeated in publications - viz. "A Mr Macdonald, who owned a large ironmongery at the corner of George and Market Streets in the city, lived near the present Macdonaldtown station and was a major property owner here."

The source of the name "Macdonaltown" has a very different story, involving a scandal of forged documents consigning Devine's property to a convict. In 1846 the property in the south of Erskineville owned by Stephen Macdonald was subdivided and advertised with the name "Macdonald Town".

Macdonaldtown, the whole suburb, was incorporated as a local government area in 1872 and was renamed as Erskineville in 1893.

References
  • The Book of Sydney Suburbs, Compiled by Frances Pollen, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1990, Published in Australia ISBN 0-207-14495-8


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