1. Austinmer Station, South Coast, photograph circa 1890. Taken shortly after the opening of the line in 1887. Source: Historic Photographs website.
Was there a hill on Moore Street, near the intersection with the main south coast road? A small postcard from the early twentieth century, featuring the Austinmer railway station, suggests there was..... But first, lets start at the western (mountain) end of the street, next to Austinmer railway station.
Austinmer railway station is located on the east coast Illawarra line in New South Wales, Australia, connecting the Sydney metropolis with Wollongong approximately 50 miles (80 kilometres) to the south. The village of Austinmer is situated in the northern part of the Illawarra, on a small coastal plain squeezed in between the mountains and the sea. A 1000 foot high sandstone and coal escarpment towers over the town to the west, clad in verdant green native bush, and to the east the white sandy beaches and rocky peninsula outcrops abut against the dark blue and white foaming waters of the Pacific Ocean. The township, formerly known as North Bulli, was officially named Austinmer in 1887, around the time of the building of the Illawarra railway line and a nearby coal mine railway to the sea (Bayley 1960). Austinmer is served by a single road - Lawrence Hargrave Drive - running north and south along the coastal fringe, and the parallel railway line to the west which has been in place since 1887 - first as a single line, then, in 1915, as a duplicated track. The first substantial residential subdivision of the area took place along Moore Street with the sale by public auction on 23 November 1887 of land owned by the North Illawarra Coal Company.
2. Township of Austinmer, subdivision plan, 1887. Collection: National Library of Australia.
According to a large plan drawn up for the sale, the road as formed at that time included a kink to the south at its eastern end where it joined with the main south coast road. The subdivision plan also include the surrounding land and the railway site, though it indicates (wrongly) that the station platform is on the western side of the line. It does, however, show the future site for a road crossing to the south of the platform, and the small stream which crosses the line near the northern extent of the platform and shed structure, just northerly of the intersection with Moore Street.
3. Township of Austinmer (railway section), subdivision plan, 1887. Collection: National Library of Australia.
The buildings of the Austinmer Railway Station group are listed as of State Significance with the New South Wales Heritage Office. The railway station was opened on 1 September 1887. A public goods siding located north of the platform opened on 23 December 1891 to serve local businesses. Up until 1915 the single platform contained two weatherboard buildings - a main station office with a flat roof slanted to the west and, to the north, a small shed or ticket office with an A-shaped roof. The buildings were located on the eastern, sea side of the single rail line, within the railway cutting and to the south of the intersection with Moore Street. At some point a white picket fence was erected along the eastern side of the platform, between the two buildings.
With the duplication of the line in 1915, and the erection of an overhead rail and road bridge to the south, the configuration of the site change. The whole railway station was rebuilt during 1914-15, with the creation of an additional platform on the western side of the site, adjacent to the new line, along with extension of the eastern platform to the north, past the Moore Street intersection, and transfer of the goods siding to south of the new bridge. Access to the western platform was via the overhead rail and road bridge to the south, following its completion in 1917 (Illawarra Mercury, 22 June 1917). Such appeared to be the extent of the changes, and the site remained much in this form to the present day, one hundred years later. However a study of original photographs of the railway station from the early twentieth century, and of the roads and buildings in the near vicinity, would suggest that there were additional changes made to the precinct. These are discussed in detail below.
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| Kennedy's Estate sale, 12 November 1906. |
The Moore Street hill
The appearance for sale on eBay in August 2015 of a small postcard featuring a view of the Austinmer railway station taken during the early 1900s caught my eye. As a local resident and historian, it was interesting to look in detail at the image and reflect on some of the history presented therein. However on close examination, some intriguing and inexplicable elements were revealed.
Firstly, the photograph showed the site from an elevated position to the west, looking east-north-east across the railway line and platform towards Moore Street, with Kennedy's Hill in the distance to the right. This revealed a lot of detail about the site. For example, the northern section of the platform was shown, along with some associated infrastructure such as what appeared to be level crossing gates on both sides of the line. The photograph was also marked in ink with two large letters X. The X to the left indicated a parcel of land which formed the entrance to the modern-day road know as the Grove, whilst the X above the building to the right appeared to indicate the location of a guest house or local store, with a number of people standing outside, perhaps after alighting from a train. Austinmer during the early years of the twentieth century was a popular tourist destination for residents of Sydney and localities to the south, interested in spending a day at the beach (Davis 1987). It was noted in one contemporary newspaper report, that on a single summer weekend in 1920, some 2000 people travelled by train to the area. This was apparently typical.
However, what was most intriguing about the photograph was the portrayal of a hill in the distance on Moore Street. The present day street decidedly falls away to the east as it kinks to the south and meets Lawrence Hargrave Drive. There is no hill, and no indication amidst the residential properties that there ever was one. The presence of such a large rise in the road at this location was inexplicable. What, therefore, were we observing in this photograph? Is it Moore Street?
The appearance for sale on eBay in August 2015 of a small postcard featuring a view of the Austinmer railway station taken during the early 1900s caught my eye. As a local resident and historian, it was interesting to look in detail at the image and reflect on some of the history presented therein. However on close examination, some intriguing and inexplicable elements were revealed.
4. Austinmer, South Coast, N.S.W., photographic postcard circa 1900. Offered for sale on eBay in August 2015.
Firstly, the photograph showed the site from an elevated position to the west, looking east-north-east across the railway line and platform towards Moore Street, with Kennedy's Hill in the distance to the right. This revealed a lot of detail about the site. For example, the northern section of the platform was shown, along with some associated infrastructure such as what appeared to be level crossing gates on both sides of the line. The photograph was also marked in ink with two large letters X. The X to the left indicated a parcel of land which formed the entrance to the modern-day road know as the Grove, whilst the X above the building to the right appeared to indicate the location of a guest house or local store, with a number of people standing outside, perhaps after alighting from a train. Austinmer during the early years of the twentieth century was a popular tourist destination for residents of Sydney and localities to the south, interested in spending a day at the beach (Davis 1987). It was noted in one contemporary newspaper report, that on a single summer weekend in 1920, some 2000 people travelled by train to the area. This was apparently typical.
However, what was most intriguing about the photograph was the portrayal of a hill in the distance on Moore Street. The present day street decidedly falls away to the east as it kinks to the south and meets Lawrence Hargrave Drive. There is no hill, and no indication amidst the residential properties that there ever was one. The presence of such a large rise in the road at this location was inexplicable. What, therefore, were we observing in this photograph? Is it Moore Street?
A comparison with maps confirmed that what we are seeing was indeed Moore Street, and the rise, or hill, in the distance, was a fact of the time. As such, it was clear that the road, at some point after the photograph was taken, was cut away, and that sections of the north-south main road were also lowered to facilitate access to the popular Austinmer beach. If we stand on the side of the road at the beach today, when we look to the west we see large embankments at the school site to the north-west and southerly towards Moore Street, suggesting that the original geography was of a large hill - Kennedy's Hill - to the south of the beach, ridges to the west cut by creeks within the Grove and western side of Moore Street, and to the north a tall ridge extending out towards the sea and northern end of the beach. This, of course, has changed greatly since settlement began in the late 1880s and with the arrival of the railway, formation of the main south coast road, residential subdivisions and transformation of the area into a tourist attraction, all of which had largely taken place by the beginning of the 1930s and the arrival of motor vehicles. This land form can be seen in part in typical postcard from the early 1900s of Austinmer beach, looking south westerly towards Kennedy's Hill.
5. Austinmer beach, postcard, circa 1910. Source: Austinmer History Photographs (Facebook).
The raised land abutting against the south side of the beach can be seen in the middle distance, along with a row of houses along Moore Street and indications of a cutting. In regards to the mysterious Moore Street hill, a search of local newspapers revealed that in 1909-1910 there were problems identified with the intersection between Moore Street and the Main South Coast Road as it was then known. Two such reports for meetings of the Bulli Municipal Council state:
Austinmer
The engineer reported upon an application for an approach by T.O. Ainstie in Moore-street, Austinmer, that in forming the street, owing to a steep fall in the ground in the cross-section, high embankments on either side were unavoidable. To give access drain pipes should be laid in the water tables, and an approach cut. As the formation was done by the council, he recommended that the pipes be supplied and the work carried out. -Adopted. (Illawarra Mercury, 12 November 1909)
Moore-Street, Austinmer
The [Council] engineer reported as follows: - I beg to report that the raised formation of the road at the junction of Moore-street, Austinmer, with the Main South Coast Road, measures about 100 feet in length, and its width on top gives about 15 feet roadway. Fencing on either side of the embankment might be considered advisable, but before any fencing is erected the width of the roadway on the embankment should be increased to 24 feet. Spoil for widening the embankment can be easily obtained, cost of which, with 12 rods of fencing, should not exceed £25. It is recommended that this amount be further considered when the expenditure on this road for the current year is under consideration. - Adopted. (South Coast Times and Wollongong Argus, 18 February 1910)These reports indicate that Moore Street access to the main road was perhaps made worse by cuttings and embankments associated with the latter's construction, and by the fact that there was a natural hill at the eastern end of Moore Street which extended all the way along the beach front to the north. The 1909-10 discussion regarding engineering of the nearby embankments led to the removal of the hill and the flattening, widening and minor diversion of Moore Street on its eastern end, so that there was a level point of intersection between the two roadways. This work apparently commenced in April 1910 (Illawarra Mercury, 29 April 1910). It consisted of removing the hill and lowering the road, along with the adjacent land, dealing with drainage issues and erecting fences. Upon completion the road was in a form much as the present day. After these works were completed the site was developed further. This included construction of a guest house on the northern corner and a service station and guest house on the southern corner. It is difficult to see evidence of the old hill in the present land form, though to the north there is a small rise in the land, and of course to the south the rise to Kennedy's Hill remains, despite the deep cutting of the main road. This, then, solves the mystery, at least in part. A hill did exist and was seemingly excised around 1910 and land about was leveled to accommodate residential and commercial construction.
The changing railway station precinct
Another image of the site from around the same time (circa 1900) was taken from a more elevated position on the west, looking north-north-east across the railway station towards a wooded area in the vicinity of the Grove. It shows the platform and buildings more fully, along with the single line, the adjacent siding, and a 5-carriage passenger steam train approaching from the north.
Austinmer Railway Station, South Coast, N.S.W., photograph circa 1900.
An interesting photograph on the Historic Photographs website (reproduced at the top of this page) shows an early, pre-1915 shot of the station from ground level, on the eastern platform and looking north, with the A-shape roofed shed in the near distance. It is interesting to note that the AUSTINMER railway station sign in this photograph is located to the south of the shed, whilst in the above-mentioned images it can be seen to the north, near the road crossing gates and the northern end of the platform. There is also no intervening fence between the two buildings and on the eastern edge of the platform. It is likely that this photograph marks the initial configuration of the site, with the northerly A-shape roofed shed dating to 1887 and prior to the construction of the flat-roofed building to the south at some later date and prior to 1915.
Another ground level photograph, this time looking south, is also known from the Wollongong City Library collection. It shows the original eastern platform, the A-shaped building and flat roofed building to the south, a train approaching from the south and some structures on the northern end of the platform, included an old 2nd Class passenger carriage at the white buffer (Singleton 1984). The small road crossing from Moore Street is also seen.
7. Austinmer Station, photograph circa 1910. Photographer: Algernon Winn. Collection: Wollongong City Library.
8. Austinmer - Rd. to beach from station gates. Photographer: Algernon Winn. Collection: Wollongong City Library.
Railway Station, Austinmer, showing the siding on the left. Photograph circa 1910. Photographer: Algernon Winn. Collection: Wollongong City Gallery.
During 1914-15 Austinmer Railway Station was rebuilt and a new line added to the west. The following photograph dates from the period and prior to the completion of the overhead bridge in 1917. In it can be seen an 8-carriage, south-bound passenger train at the eastern platform; part of the new western platform and building; the duplicated line; and the construction of the southern overhead rail and road bridge.
Austinmer Station, South Coast, photograph circa 1915. Source: Historic Photographs collection.
The two original pre-1915 buildings are still in place, though the platform has been extended northerly and a new building erected at the approximate location of the former road crossing from Moore Street. The road to the Grove can also be seen. This photograph reveals the close proximity of the original platform to the railway cutting.
References
Austinmer Railway Station Group [webpage], Heritage Office of New South Wales. Available URL: http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=4801131. Accessed 10 August 2015.
Bayley, William Alan, The naming of Austinmer, Illawarra Historical Society Bulletin, April 1960, 219-219.
Davis, Joseph, Tourism in the twin towns : Thirroul - Austinmer 1890-1930, Illawarra Historical Society Bulletin, December 1987, 76-77.
Singleton, C.C., Railway History in Illawarra, New South Wales, Illawarra Historical Society, Wollongong, 1984, 65p. 4th edition.
Michael Organ
Last updated: 24 March 2021.
