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| The Babbington Family, in their backyard at 51 Melrose Street, Lauriston Park. Courtesy of Mabel Harris |
Have you heard of Lauriston Park? This community once existed on the fringes of Sydney airport, at the bottom of O'Riordan Street, just south of the fast food joints on Ross Smith Avenue. It was a small settlement focused around Roslyn and Melrose Streets. Its first residents moved here in 1902, years before the aerodrome was established in 1919.
Intially, planes were a cause of excitement for residents, however things changed after WWII when the Federal Government decided to turn Mascot
into a modern international airport. In the coming years this once tight-knit community was separated as homes were resumed by the Federal
Government.
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| Lauriston Park Then & Now, 1934,1945,2016. Images courtesy of Gregory's, AMM & Goggle Maps |
In 1996, just six years after its last two residents left, Council produced a detailed book about the history of Lauriston Park. To prevent this fascinating story from disappearing any further we have recently digitalised the publication which you can download
here.
There is also some interesting material in
this post by Allen Windross.
If you find it hard to believe people once considered living so close to the airport check out this advert from 1928 that advertises blocks of land close to Lauriston Park. It certainly represents another age and way of thinking!
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| The Sun, March 9, 1928, p. 12. Courtesy of Trove http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article222011098 | |
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