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Riverstone Sydney, NSW
Riverstone Town Centre
Postcode:	2765
LGA:	Blacktown
Suburbs around Riverstone South Windsor Vineyard Box Hill Windsor Downs Riverstone Rouse Hill Marsden Park Schofields Kellyville

A suburb in the City of Blacktown, in Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia.^[1] Riverstone (pronounced "Riverston") is one of the oldest towns in Australia.

Contents 1 Early history 2 Current developments 3 Transport Links 4 Trivia 5 External links 6 References

Prior to settlement and colonisation of Australia, Riverstone and the surrounding area was inhabited by the Darug tribe. Most of these people died due to introduced diseases following the arrival of the First Fleet, and the remainder were largely relocated to government farms and a series of settlements. This resettlement eventually led to a settlement at the intersection of Richmond Road and Rooty Hill Road which came to be known as Black's Town.^[2]

Riverstone was established as a government stock farm in 1803, due to the large number of creeks and good grazing land in the area. In 1810 Lieut-Col Maurice Charles O'Connell was granted 2,500 acres of land there, which he called "Riverston Farm", after his birthplace. (The "e" at the end first appeared on railway timetables in the 1860s, apparently a misprint that has become the accepted spelling). Originally, beef cattle farmed in the area were driven overland to the Hawkesbury River for transport by sailing ship to the convict settlement at Sydney Cove. The construction of the Sydney to Richmond Railway line in the 1864 both eliminated the need for this and opened up the region to non-rural development.

An important meatworks was established there in 1878, undergoing various stages of rebuilding and expansion until it closed permanently in 1992. On its western side Riverstone still has a large and thriving industrial area.^[3]

In the 1880s O'Connell's widow subdivided and sold off most of the original grant, and a pattern of intersecting streets was laid out, mostly named after famous streets in London (eg Piccadilly Street, Gladstone Parade etc). The presumption was that Riverstone was set to become an important regional centre but his did not actually happen.

In 1988, as part of a Federal Government programme to commemorate the 200th anniversary of European settlement in Australia, a heritage museum was established in the old Masonic hall in Garfield Road, now open the first Sunday of each month.

Most of the allotments were eventually taken up for suburban housing but a few of the original 1880s blocks remain vacant to the present day. Until the beginning of the 21st century, Riverstone remained pretty much a small country town, but the recent massive housing boom in the region is set to swallow it and the surrounding districts as part of the urban sprawl. Entire new surburbs have appeared in the area in just a few years. A huge shopping complex is currently under construction at the corner of Windsor and Schofields Roads in the adjacent suburb of Rouse Hill.

Riverstone is situated between the Richmond Road running from Blacktown to Richmond, and the Windsor Road running from Windsor to North Parramatta. Windsor Road is currently (Dec 06) undergoing a major upgrade to four lanes.

Riverstone railway station is on Cityrail's Richmond line between Blacktown and Richmond.

From dawn to about 9PM, commuter trains to Sydney leave at approximately 30 minute intervals, in most cases coinciding with the arrival of a train from Sydney. After that they shift to an hourly schedule. Depending on the hour, train services running through Riverstone offer a varying number of "limited stops" to the Sydney CBD and the majority then continue over the Sydney Harbour Bridge to the North Shore line and Hornsby or Berowrah. Apart from the city stations, transfer to most other lines is easily made at Strathfield, Redfern or Parramatta, and other stops that offer fewer choices. The peak-hour journey from Riverstone to Central takes a little over an hour, and another 20 minutes to the popular destination of Chatswood.

The recent opening of the M7 Motorway on/off-ramp from Richmond Road gives unprecedented road access from Riverstone to the City, although this is currently quite expensive and tends to be rather slow at peak hour. The opening of the Lane Cove Tunnel will eventually give a continuous motorway link between Riverstone and surrounding suburbs to Sydney Airport

Riverstone is one of the few suburbs left in the Sydney region with a level crossing with old-fashioned boom gates. The view looking South onto the undeveloped flood-prone paddocks is popular with Sydney film makers as a stand-in for a small country railway station. The final parting scene in the film Beneath Clouds was shot there.

Coordinates: -33.6819° 150.8594°

• Maps and aerial photos
  • Street map from Street Directory, MSN Maps and Multimap.
  • Satellite image from Google Maps, WikiMapia and Terraserver.

1. ^ Riverstone. Geographical Names Board of New South Wales. Retrieved on January 4, 2007.
2. ^ History - The Region - Aboriginal. Retrieved on January 4, 2007.
3. ^ Error on call to Template:cite web: Parameters url and title must be specified. City of Blacktown city Council. Retrieved on January 4, 2007.

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Suburbs of the City of Blacktown | Western Sydney | Hills District | Sydney
Acacia Gardens | Arndell Park | Bidwill | Blackett | Blacktown | Colebee | Dean Park | Dharruk | Doonside | Eastern Creek | Emerton | Glendenning | Glenwood | Hassall Grove | Hebersham | Huntingwood | Kellyville Ridge | Kings Langley | Kings Park | Lalor Park | Lethbridge Park | Marayong | Marsden Park | Minchinbury | Mount Druitt | Oakhurst | Newbury | Parklea | Plumpton | Prospect | Quakers Hill | Riverstone | Rooty Hill | Rouse Hill | Schofields | Seven Hills | Shalvey | Shanes Park | Stanhope Gardens | The Ponds | Toongabbie | Tregear | Vineyard | Whalan | Willmot | Woodcroft
List of Sydney suburbs