The name and the parish
Gordon first appears on paper as the name of a survey parish that took in much of the upper north shore. The Surveyor-General of New South Wales, Sir Thomas Mitchell, assigned it. The choice is believed to commemorate Sir Willoughby Gordon, a fellow officer from the Peninsular War who served as quartermaster-general in Mitchell's regiment.
Willoughby, later both a suburb and a municipality, commemorates Willoughby Gordon as well.
Lane Cove, the early settlement
A school was set up at 'Lane Cove' in 1816 at the behest of Governor Macquarie. The early settlement that became Gordon was originally known as Lane Cove, and people began settling the area about 1820.
The first post office at Lane Cove opened on 1 February 1860. On 1 June 1879 the village and its post office took the name Gordon, from Robert McIntosh's Gordondale estate.
On 1 June 1879 the village and its post office took the name Gordon, from Robert McIntosh's Gordondale estate.
The school on the Pacific Highway
The former Gordon Public School went up on the Pacific Highway in 1878, to designs by George Mansfield. It was built in the Gothic Revival style, in keeping with a tradition that put schools in the same Gothic mould as churches. A second block followed in 1912. It began as Lane Cove School, and in November 1885 it became Gordon Public School.
The school buildings are among the few that remain from the pioneering days of northern Sydney, and they appear on the Register of the National Estate. The school closed in 1989, and the former Gordon Public School is now mostly gone: its site holds the library and the police station. A public school at East Gordon and another at West Gordon also stand close by.
What the past left behind
Several places in Gordon are heritage-listed. They include Eryldene at 17 McIntosh Street, the railway station on Middlemiss Street, Iolanthe at 691 Pacific Highway, Tulkiyan at 707 Pacific Highway, and the former Gordon Public School at 799 Pacific Highway.
Sydney's largest flying fox colony lives in Gordon, and Ku-ring-gai Council and the Heritage Council of New South Wales bought land together to protect it. In the late 20th century the suburb was also the Australian headquarters of Sun Microsystems Australia, on a site opposite the present library.
People who lived in Gordon
Dr John Bradfield, who was the chief engineer for the Sydney Harbour Bridge, lived in Gordon, and his grave is at St Johns Anglican Church. The electoral division of Bradfield, which takes in part of Gordon, also carries his name.
For a time the founder of Australia's National Trust made a home in a single-storey cottage in Park Avenue. A linguist who bred camellias and was a trustee at the Art Gallery of New South Wales also lived in the suburb, and a Formula One driver was born in Gordon.
Timeline
- 1816A school was set up at 'Lane Cove' at the behest of Governor Macquarie.
- about 1820People began settling the area.
- 1860The first post office at Lane Cove opened on 1 February.
- 1878A school building went up on the Pacific Highway.
- 1879The village and its post office took the name Gordon on 1 June.
- 1885The school became Gordon Public School in November.
- 1912A second block followed at the school.
- 1989The former Gordon Public School closed.
Living in Gordon
Gordon sits on Sydney's Upper North Shore and is the administrative centre for Ku-ring-gai Council. Within the suburb is a locality called East Gordon, and West Gordon lies within West Pymble. Most of the suburb is residential.
The railway station is on Middlemiss Street, and the former school on the Pacific Highway is now mostly gone, its place taken by the library and the police station. Bushland along Stony Creek runs through the suburb.
Questions people ask
- What is the postcode for Gordon?
- Gordon's postcode is 2072. The suburb is in the Ku-ring-gai Council area.
- How many people live in Gordon?
- In 2021, 8,795 people lived in Gordon.
- What is the median age in Gordon?
- The median age in Gordon was 39 in 2021.
- What is living in Gordon like?
- Gordon is a mostly residential suburb on Sydney's Upper North Shore, with bushland along Stony Creek. The suburb contains East Gordon, and West Gordon lies within West Pymble.
- What is the history of Gordon?
- The name comes from a survey parish assigned by Surveyor-General Sir Thomas Mitchell, believed to commemorate Sir Willoughby Gordon. The settlement was known as Lane Cove until the village and post office were renamed Gordon in 1879.