North Balgowlah, New South Wales



'''North Balgowlah, Sydney, New South Wales '''

When Captain Arthur Phillip rowed into Port Jackson on January 21 1788 he first entered middle Harbour and then rowed around what is now known as North Harbour.

It is believed to be on that day that he observed the group of Aboriginal men standing near the shore of North Harbour whose manly demeanour eventually led to the naming of that place as Manly.

Which means that the place that we now know as Balgowlah was originally the first Manly and was marked as such on Captain Hunter's map of the harbour produced in April 1788.

Within a few years the name Manly had drifted to the area it is today and the original Manly became known by the aboriginal word "Balgowlah" meaning North Harbour.

By 1834 there were several farms established in the area considered of significance to the colony. By 1850 Peter Ellery started running his hand punt from the Spit giving easier access to the north side. Later trams ran from North Sydney to the Spit on Middle Harbour where the passengers alighted and crossed the narrow neck of water by punt. By 1911 they could board a tram on the north side to continue their journey to Balgowlah, Manly.

For many years this tiny hilly suburb was an isolated area with a scattering of houses along a gravel track, pocketed between the suburbs of the Manly municipality, Manly Dam reserve and Wakehurst golf club. North Balgowlah's long term residents blame their isolation on the time it took for sealed roads, kerb and footpaths to come.

In 1924 The Spit Bridge was built and like its neighbours Balgowlah became a suburb with easy access to the city and thus the area grew as city workers began to settle.

North Balgowlah, which has also been known as Manly West and Balgowlah North, started to develop in the 1940's after the second world war where a close knit community grew from the first post war settlers.

It is now a growing area with many families enjoying a lifestyle within easy reach of the beaches, but with lower costs than being within Manly itself.