Location
Normanhurst is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, 23 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Hornsby Shire. (wikipedia)
History
Normanhurst was originally known as Hornsby, with the suburb that is now known as Hornsby called Jack’s Island. The construction of the Main Northern and North Shore railway lines in the 1890s brought about a name change. The two lines were joined at a station called Hornsby Junction, whereas the station one stop south on the Northern line kept the name Hornsby. Due to confusion around the similarly named stops, the postmaster demanded that Hornsby station change its name.
The railway station originally known as ‘Hornsby’, opened on 21 November 1895 and the name was changed by the local community to Normanhurst in 1900.
The first Hornsby Post Office opened on 1 August 1864 and was renamed South Hornsby in 1900 and Normanhurst in 1905.
Normanhurst was derived from the name of a prominent resident, civil engineer Norman Selfe (1839–1911), with hurst being the English word for a wooded hill. Ironically, Selfe protested against the name change, preferring the name St Normans, which he suggested would have been “more elegant and suggestive”. The railway station was renamed in 1900 and was used for the suburb that developed around it. (wikipedia)
Places of Interest
