Although the rail and station is no longer present, the gates are still there (however they are a recreation of the original). A reminder of Wallsend and Plattsburg’s past.

The history of Wallsend is closely tied with the presence of coal seams. Before the town became known as Wallsend, the area was known as Nikkinba to the Awabakal people, meaning place of coal.⁹ This natural resource is what would later draw settlers to the area in the 19th and 20th Centuries. It was first supervisor of the Newcastle Wallsend Coal Company, Alexander Brown, who called the town Wallsend in 1858. He named it after his hometown at the end of Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland County, England.

Soon after the mine opened, work began on a railway line, which would join with the existing line at Waratah to transport coal to the harbour. This railway ran along what was then known as Kemp Street and divided the area into two distinct locations. The south side, where you currently stand, became Wallsend and the north side developed into the town of Plattsburg. Nelson Street provided the link between the two with a level crossing. Over time, Wallsend became known as the more affluent side of town, while Plattsburg maintained its working-class roots. However, the two councils amalgamated in 1915.

Although the railway and station are no longer present, the gates are still standing, a reminder of Wallsend and Plattsburg’s past.

Now a family Chinese restaurant, this building was once the Wallsend Library. It opened its doors in 1948 and was the second free library to be opened in the Newcastle Council area. The library was largely funded by the Joint Coal Board, which provided £4100 towards its establishment. The new library contained 5200 books, half for children and half for adults.¹⁷

The picture here, featuring many bicycles and people lining up out the front, was taken in Book Week in 1950, during which the library held events including talks by children’s authors.¹⁸

These facilities were replaced in 2006 by a new award-winning library just around the corner in Bunn Street.¹⁹

The Grapes Inn was opened by Thomas Lundy in 1869 on land he had purchased from the Newcastle Wallsend Coal Company. It was in this hotel that the Municipality of Wallsend was born.

A public meeting held here in 1872 led the community to petition for recognition as a municipality, and in 1874 Wallsend was formally incorporated.

The hotel underwent improvements in 1874. An advertisement from this time boasts that the hotel has a Billiard Room. It was the first of its kind in Wallsend. ²⁶

During the First World War, the hotel stopped serving alcohol, and eventually ceased operations as a pub when the publicans daughter Myrtle Armstrong pulled the final beer in 1921

Since then, the building has since been used for many purposes including shops, a doctor’s surgery, offices, a party hire venue, and most recently as a Christmas Shop.

The first Railway Goods Shed was constructed in 1868 to protect goods from the weather and prevent looting. In addition, the space was sometimes used for gatherings, with a concert to raise funds for a Public School held in the newly opened building in October 1868

It has seen a mixture of both, including being the home of a car yard and a tram museum. The building was at risk of demolition for road upgrade works but an interim heritage order and now State Heritage Listing has protected this building, with ties to the early coal town and community contributing to its historical significance.

The first Presbyterian services in Wallsend were held in the workshops of the A Pit of the Wallsend Coal Company by Reverend William Bain. Bain was from the Newcastle Church and would travel to deliver sermons to the Wallsend locals.

The St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church was established in 1868. 50 The small Gothic style church is a rare piece of mid-19th century architecture in the area. The first mass was led here by Reverend Nairn.

Throughout the decades, St Andrew’s has served the local Wallsend community and continues to do so to this today.

Nelson Street was an important business centre in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The street was lined with pubs, churches, and all kinds of shops. This growing business centre saved locals the trouble of travelling all the way into Newcastle to shop.

This spot was once the site of C Firkin and Co’s Drapery Store. The building on the left was originally a pub, but Caleb Firkin converted it to a store in 1889. The store sold a variety of goods including men’s, women’s, and children’s clothing, hats, ties, rugs, mats, hosiery, fabrics, and lace.⁵⁹

The family business was passed down for generations until the 1970s.

The Lemon Grove Hotel takes its name from the farm the hotel was built upon. This farm featured a lemon grove and was known as the Lemon Grove Estate. The property of Ann Clarke, the Lemon Grove estate was subdivided after her passing and much of the township of Wallsend is built upon her former estate. The Lemon Grove hotel was built around 1875.⁶⁶ It was located next to a tram terminus, and was a popular spot with trampassengers.⁶⁷

One of these trams can be seen in the background of a picture from the 1900s. The hotel underwent renovations in the 1920s, detailed in the Newcastle Morning Herald.⁶⁰ At this time the hotel featured an island bar and was decorated with white and green tiles. The balcony is one the hotels most prominent features and it gives a great vantage point over Tyrrell and Nelson Streets. Locals made use of this prime location as a point from which to deliver speeches to citizens in the street and park below.

One meeting, discussing the Federation movement in 1898 was said to have been attended by 800 people.68 Although the balcony has changed since those times, step inside and go upstairs to feel like the old mayor of Plattsburg.

While Wallsend’s first post office was built on Cowper Street in 1861, an upgraded facility was necessary and this building in front of you was opened to the public in 1882, forming part of an administrative centre, adjacent to the courthouse and police station.

The Post Office is significant to local history in that it was also the telegraph office. When the trans-continental telegraph was completed, telegraph became a way for coal exporters to organise international trade. Therefore, the Wallsend Post and Telegraph Office was an essential part of the coal industry up until telephone and radio communication became more prevalent.⁷⁵

The building served as the local post office up until 1995, when newer facilities were established at Wallsend Village.

The earliest police presence at Wallsend related to miners’ strikes and industrial disputes, where police were tasked with protecting collieries and restraining unionists.

In 1873 locals complained that their police service was inadequate, with only two magistrates present but no station, lock up or courthouse.⁸² The Police Station and Court House were both constructed in 1878 at the same time on land of the former Lemon Grove Estate. Like the court house, the police station has been substantially altered.

One of the most intact buildings from the precinct is the former Police Sargent’s Residence built in 1884.⁸³ In 1888 miners across the Newcastle District went on strike after refusals to increase their pay. The strike lasted months. The image of police at Wallsend’s C Pit dates to this strike. They would have been stationed to protect the mine and to deter further riots.

The Metropolitan Hotel was established in 1879 by Mr G Shoesmith.⁸⁶ It was the only three storey building in Wallsend at the time. It was known by locals as ‘White Elephant’. An image taken from 1906, further up the hill on Nelson Street, shows how the hotel dominated the landscape.

In the 1920s the property was bought by George W Jones to convert into a theatre. He also purchased the adjacent building to expand the theatre.⁸⁷ This was the former Salvation Army Hall, which can be seen on the left in the 1886 image of the hotel. Jones’ theatre was called The Empire Theatre, and it officially opened in April 1924.⁸⁸ At first it only showed silent films, but in 1930 the first ‘talkies’ made their debut.⁸⁹

The Mayor of Wallsend gave a speech before the first talkie played, stating, “There is now no need for the people of Wallsend to go into Newcastle for their entertainment, since Mr. Jones has equipped his theatre with the wonderful sound-reproducing apparatus, and Mr Jones deserves the patronage of the residents of the town”.

The theatre continued to be a popular place for locals up until 1970 when it showed its last film.

It was a fire in Nelson Street in 1888 that prompted the residents of Wallsend to establish their own fire brigade. Prior to this, they relied on the fire fighters of neighbouring towns. Only a few days after the Nelson Street blaze, a town meeting was held to establish the Wallsend Volunteer Fire Brigade in which 50 locals enrolled.94 In 1910 a Board of Fire Commissioners was established for NSW and the board took over the administration of the Wallsend Brigade. The Brigade was then a mix of volunteers and permanent staff. Initially the brigade had a small wooden building, ⁹⁵ until this Fire Station was opened in September 1921. ⁹⁶

This photo is from the ‘Back to Wallsend’ Souvenir Booklet from 1935. All the firefighters can be seen in their brass helmets. This style of helmet defined the uniform of fireman for almost 100 years and was worn in NSW up until 1964.⁹⁷

Wallsend Fire Brigade moved to newer facilities on Summerhill Road in 2018, and the heritage listed building is now privately owned.⁹⁸

The Fire Station Hotel is in fact 46 years older than the Fire Station after which it is named. It was originally known as the Great Northern Hotel. When it opened in 1875 it was described as “…elegantly built” and located, “…in a pleasant situation.” In addition to the bar and accommodation, the pub featured a, “long and lofty room… highly suitable for holding meetings.”¹⁰⁰

A notable historic meeting at the pub was when the Premier of New South Wales, Sir Henry Parkes gave a speech from the hotel balcony during a visit to the Newcastle district in 1887.¹⁰¹

The hotel underwent major renovations in the 1980s. It was at this time that the name changed to the Fire Station Hotel, commemorating the Fire Station opposite. Considering there are multiple heritage listed ‘Great Northern Hotels’ in NSW, this likely reduced confusion as there is just the one Fire Station Hotel, or as it is affectionately known ‘The Fiery’.