Carss Park is a picturesque suburb around Carss Point, overlooking Kogarah Bay on the Georges River. The suburb is surrounded by the suburbs of Kogarah Bay, Allawah, South Hurstville and Blakehurst. Carss Park is a mostly residential area featuring some valuable real estate with water views and bushland surrounds.
History
The area was purchased from the Crown on 28 January 1853 by Jonathan Croft for A£123. It changed hands several times before being acquired in 1863 by William Carss, a cabinet-maker, who called his property Carss Bush. He built a stone cottage in the 1860s called Carss Park Cottage. After William Carss died, his family continued to live in the house, including daughter Mary Carss. William had left the estate to the trustees of the Sailor Home in Sydney. When Mary died this clause in her father’s will was honoured and the estate passed to the trustees in 1916. In 1921 the Blakehurst Progress Association made attempts to secure Carss Bush for a public park and Kogarah council was able to acquire the land for the people. Carss Bush Park was dedicated on 26 January 1924 and 150 lots were auctioned on the same day for development. Many of the streets on the new estate were named after Aboriginal tribes.
Heritage listings
Carss Park has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
A small shopping strip is located on the Carwar Avenue near the intersection with the Princes Highway, containing a bottleshop, chemist, hairdresser, newsagent, petrol station and supermarket. A bus service operates between Hurstville and Kogarah via Carss Park.
Carss Park has several recreation facilities including an Olympic Swimming Pool, saltwater baths, a bicycle track and football fields. Parks in the suburb are Carss Bush Park, Carss Park, Todd Park, Parkside Drive Reserve and Fraser Park.
Population
Demographics
According to the 2016 Census of Population, there were 1,252 people usually resident in Carss Park. 69.5% of people were born in Australia. 61.2% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Greek at 12.3%. The most common responses for religious affiliation were Catholic 23.9%, Orthodox 19.9%, No Religion 16.5% and Anglican 14.6%.
The family home in popular television series Packed to the Rafters is supposed to be located in Carss Park, although the actual location is in Concord. Filming does, however, take place on location in Carss Park and surrounding suburbs.
