North St Marys, New South Wales facts for kids
Quick facts for kids North St MarysSydney, New South Wales |
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Chifley College Dunheved Campus, North St Marys
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| Population | 3,921 (2016 census) | ||||||||||||||
| • Density | 1,240.8/km2 (3,214/sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 2760 | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation | 35 m (115 ft) | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 3.16 km2 (1.2 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Location | 47 km (29 mi) west of Sydney CBD | ||||||||||||||
| LGA(s) | Penrith City Council | ||||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Londonderry | ||||||||||||||
| Federal Division(s) | Lindsay | ||||||||||||||
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North St Marys is a suburb in western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales Australia. North St Marys is located 47 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Penrith. North St Marys is an extension of the adjoining suburb of St Marys.
History
Aboriginal culture
Prior to European settlement, what is now North St Marys was home to the Gomerrigal-Tongarra people who spoke the Darug language. They lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle governed by traditional laws, which had their origins in the Dreamtime. Their homes were bark huts called 'gunyahs'. They hunted kangaroos and emus for meat, and gathered yams, berries and other native plants. Little else is known of their customs and there are no known carvings or rock paintings in the area. By 1816, their numbers had been reduced by smallpox and clashes with the British settlers.
European settlement
The first land grant in the area was made in 1820 to Phillip Parker King, son of the Governor Phillip Gidley King. He named it Triangle Farm but did very little with the land and it remained largely vacant land until the 1940s when it was bought by the Commonwealth Government to house workers at the St Marys munitions factory.
Population
Demographics
At the 2011 census, North St Marys had a population of 3,680, who tended to be a bit younger (35) than the national average (37). Most people were Australian born (70%) with minorities born in New Zealand (2.6%), England (2.5%), Philippines (2.4%), Fiji (1.0%) and Samoa (1.0%). The language spoken most commonly, other than English, was Arabic (2.4%). The median income was $406 per week, noticeably less than the national average of $577. Most houses were either owned outright (25%) or were being paid off (32%) but the number of rental properties (39%) was higher than the national average.
