Rooty Hill, New South Wales

Rooty Hill is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Rooty Hill is located 42 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Blacktown and is part of the Greater Western Sydney region.

History
Rooty Hill was named after a hill on Norfolk Island. The origin of this name puzzled historians for many years because the clue lay not in Blacktown City but on Norfolk Island. Governor Philip Gidley King had been in charge of the first settlement there in early 1788 and had noted that the hillside where he had built his Government House had been difficult to dig owing to the amount of tree roots beneath the surface. The hill on Norfolk became known as the rooty hill and the name is now official. When King returned to New South Wales he built the headquarters for his government reserve of 1802 at the foot of a hill that reminded him of the Norfolk Island rooty hill and there can be little doubt that he named Blacktown's Rooty Hill after that on Norfolk where he had met his future wife and spent several happy and productive years. The name Rooty Hill first appeared on a map in 1803. The Australia Day Ambassador since 2008 has been Brett Hinch.

Commercial area

 * Rooty Hill RSL Club is an entertainment and dining venue. The club, marketed for many years as "the Vegas of the West", has entered Sydney popular culture as something of a tacky contrast to venues such as the Sydney Opera House There has also been some controversy that Rooty Hill RSL Club should have its own postcode.
 * Rooty Hill Novotel Hotel is located next to the Rooty Hill RSL Club. It opened in 2002 and was a Holiday Inn up until early 2010.
 * ONE55 Health & Fitness is a gym facility operated by Rooty Hill RSL Club. It offers personal training, group fitness classes and gym equipment for use.

Schools

 * Rooty Hill Public School is a New South Wales public school providing education from Kindergarten to Year 6. It has been on Rooty Hill Road North since opening in 1957 with 114 students. The entire class of the opening year attended the 50th anniversary celebrations held in May 2007. Member for Chifley, Roger Price commented that ..the influence a school can have on a student lasts their lifetime. Having the entire class of 1957 at the (50th anniversary) celebration shows just how positive that can be.
 * St. Aidans Primary School (Kindergarten-Year 6), located in Adelaide Street was founded in 1907.
 * St. Agnes Catholic High School (Years 7-10). Evans Road, Rooty Hill is a secondary school located in South Rooty Hill. Established in 1962, the school is a part of the Christ Catholic College Community of schools in 1999, which is a system of three schools that broke apart in 2004, the other two being Clare Catholic High School, Hassall Grove and Loyola Senior High School, Mt Druitt, which is the only Senior High School in the Parramatta Diocese. In late 2004, St Agnes underwent a major building development, with a new building containing six classrooms, a library and an undercroft, which would provide easy access to the school hall. In late 2007, the school underwent a whole-campus redevelopment.
 * Rooty Hill High School (Years 7-12). North Parade, Rooty Hill. Rooty Hill High School is a comprehensive, 7 to 12 community school in western Sydney.

Parks

 * Angus Memorial Park
 * Central Park
 * Harry Dennison Park
 * Kimberley Park
 * Morreau Reserve
 * Rooty Hill Skatepark.

Notable residents
Notable residents have included:
 * Sir Douglas Mawson - scientist and explorer
 * Mile Jedinak footballer for the Socceroos was born and raised here.