McMahons Point

McMahons Point Sydney,New South Wales
McMahons Point, New South Wales
Population	2,315 (SAL2021)
Postcode(s)	2060
Elevation	41 m (135 ft)
Area	0.3 km2(0.1 sq mi)
Location	3 km (2 mi) N ofSydney CBD
LGA(s)	North Sydney Council
State electorate(s)	North Shore
Federal division(s)	North Sydney
Suburbsaround McMahons Point: Waverton North Sydney Lavender Bay Greenwich McMahons Point Milsons Point Goat Island Millers Point Dawes Point

McMahons Pointis a harboursidesuburbon the lowerNorth ShoreofSydney,New South Wales,Australia.McMahons Point is located 3 kilometres north of theSydney central business district,in thelocal government areaofNorth Sydney Council.McMahons Point sits on the peninsula flanked by Berrys Bay to the west andLavender Bayto the east. The lower tip of the peninsula is known asBlues Point,which offers expansive views ofPort Jackson(Sydney Harbour). The postcode is 2060.

Once predominantly working-class, it is now among Sydney's most exclusive localities. McMahons Point is primarily a medium-to-high-density residential area and is bordered by the surrounding suburbs ofWaverton,North SydneyandLavender Bay.Real estate north of Sydney Harbour in this collection of villages is set at a premium due to the area's low crime rate, cafes, restaurants, pubs, parks, accessibility to bus, train and ferry networks plus expansive views of the Sydney City CBD.

History

McMahon's Point is named after Michael McMahon, a 19-year old Irish farm labourer who arrived in Sydney on 14 Feb 1848 with his brother James (24). Two years later he married Angelina Faning (ofSt Helier,Jersey,Channel Islands) and they had several children.

Michael McMahon became a successful and wealthy manufacturer of brushes and combs and in 1864 built the McMahon family home on the headland. He became mayor of the borough of Victoria (later North Sydney) in 1890. He and his wife Angelina and many of their family are buried in the Catholic Section of Gore's Hill Cemetery. However their many descendants are established in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US and the McMahon family name has become part of the famous harbour where he built his home.

The original occupants of this region were theCammeraygal.These people lived along the foreshores and in bushland, cliffs and rock shelters prior to European settlement.

Land in this area was originally settled and farmed byJames Milson (1785-1872),aNapoleonic Warveteran, in 1806. Further grants were subsequently made in 1817 toBilly Blue,a Jamaican convict turned Sydney Harbour waterman, which remained within his family until the 1850s. Subsequently, the estate was progressively subdivided, with the earliest developments occurring on the northern end. Blues Point Road had been gazetted from 1839 as a thoroughfare from the ferry wharf to theSt Leonardstownship. Most of the middle and southern sections of the peninsula were subdivided by the 1870s. A tram line was extended to McMahons Point in 1909, further stimulating development, particularly along Blues Point Road.

Sydney Harbour,theSydney Harbour Bridgeand theSydney city centreon the far right at twilight, from McMahons Point

Kayak class on Lavender Bay near the ferry wharf

Large numbers of passenger and vehicular ferries travelled between Blues Point/McMahons Point and the city at the turn of the century. When the Sydney Harbour Bridge opened in 1932, the wharves of McMahons and Blues Point provided services every 10–15 minutes and served six million passengers per year. The opening of the harbour bridge immediately rendered the bulk of these ferries redundant and, in 1935, small ferries operated by Hegarty Ferries took over the former runs of the larger craft ofSydney Ferries Limitedto McMahons Point. The tram service was replaced by buses in 1933.

In July 1890, the boroughs of St Leonards, East St Leonards and Victoria (incorporating McMahons Point) merged to form the borough of North Sydney. Foreshores were popular for boat building and other maritime activity through the latter half of the nineteenth century and well into the twentieth. In 1957, much of McMahons Point was to be rezoned as 'waterfront industrial' by North Sydney Council, but a group formed by residents and architects, led byHarry Seidler,argued for a residential vision. Seidler proposed a 29-building apartment development in gardens. This redevelopment was in turn opposed by a new council and residents; only two towers were built - Blues Point Tower and Harbour Master.

A stretch of railway line dating from 1893 runs through the suburb's north-west and emerges from a tunnel at an off-peak storage depot in Lavender Bay. It no longer carries passengers as a newer line (known now as theNorth Shore railway line) was constructed in 1932 which traverses the North Sydney andMilsons Pointstations.

Heritage listings

McMahons Point has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

• 11-11a Bayview Point:Ildemere

Population

Residential street

In the2021 Census,there were 2,315 people in McMahons Point. 60.9% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth wereEnglandat 7.7%,New Zealandat 2.7%,United States of America2.3%,China2.0% andSouth Africa2.0%. 79.6% of people spoke onlyEnglishat home, the next most common languages spoken at home wereMandarin2.4%,French1.6%,Cantonese1.4%,Spanish1.1% andItalian1.0%. The most common responses for religion wereNo Religion48.3%,Catholic19.4% andAnglican12.7%.

Commercial area

At the northern end of Blues Point Road (adjacent to the North Sydney central business district), there is a concentration of businesses primarily associated with advertising/marketing, publishing, media, computing, engineering, architecture and creative arts. This precinct is also home to manyal frescostreet cafés and restaurants and some speciality retail stores.

Transport

The McMahons Point ferry wharf (2012)

The suburb is served byCross Harbour ferry servicesandParramatta River ferry services,trains (fromWaverton,North SydneyandMilsons Point) on theNorth Shore & Western LineandNorthern Lineof theSydney Trainsnetwork, with bus routes 254 and 291 terminating atMcMahons Point ferry wharfand various other routes passing across the top of it at North Sydney Station and Victoria Cross.

External links

• Margaret Park (2008)."McMahons Point".Dictionary of Sydney.Retrieved28 September2015.[CC-By-SA]