Old Toongabbie is a suburb

Suburb

The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...

 of Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, in the state of New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. Old Toongabbie is located 29 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district

Sydney central business district

The Sydney central business district is the main commercial centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It extends southwards for about 3 kilometres from Sydney Cove, the point of first European settlement. Its north–south axis runs from Circular Quay in the north to Central railway station in...

 in the local government area of the City of Parramatta

City of Parramatta

The City of Parramatta is a Local Government Area in western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia.Initially in 1861 it was formed as Municipality of Parramatta...

 and is part of the Greater Western Sydney

Greater Western Sydney

Greater Western Sydney is a term used to describe the western region of the metropolitan area of Sydney, Australia. The University of Western Sydney defines Greater Western Sydney as comprising 14 local government areas...

 region.

History

Toongabbie is derived from an Aboriginal word, reported as meaning place by the water or meeting by the water. It was named in June 1792 after Governor

Governor

A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

 Arthur Phillip

Arthur Phillip

Admiral Arthur Phillip RN was a British admiral and colonial administrator. Phillip was appointed Governor of New South Wales, the first European colony on the Australian continent, and was the founder of the settlement which is now the city of Sydney.-Early life and naval career:Arthur Phillip...

 asked the local Aborigines what they called the place. It is the oldest official use of an Aboriginal place-name - Parramatta which was founded earlier was first called Rose Hill.

The area continued to be known as Toongabbie until the construction of the Western railway line and the building of the railway station of Toongabbie. Over time the location of the station and the shops around it became known as Toongabbie and the original settlement was called Old Toongabbie to differentiate the two.

European settlement

Old Toongabbie is noted for being the third settlement set up after the British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 occupation of Australia began in 1788. It was founded as a Government Farm to grow food for the colony in April 1792. After eleven years, the government farm was closed and the land was given as grants to settlers and convicts who had done their time.

In 1860, the railway was extended to Blacktown but it took 20 years before any arrangements were made for trains to stop at Toongabbie. The first school in Toongabbie , opened on the 3rd of May 1886. By April 1911, the school closed due to low enrolments. The school reopened February the next year and has stayed open ever since.

The first post office in the area was opened after many years of campaigning by local residents in 1887 in a private house on Old Windsor Road and this arrangement continued until the 1960s. The first post master was a Mr Birks wand he was paid 25 pounds a year to manage the office and bring the mail bag over from Seven Hills on horseback each day. By 1922 the number of residents and businesses had grown sufficiently to support a second office in a weatherboard cottage in Wentworth Avenue, known as Toongabbie West. A purpose built office was opened in the main shopping area in Portico Parade in 1960 becoming Toongabbie Post Office whilst the old Toongabbie Post Office was renamed Old Toongabbie.

From the 1990s part of this area was unofficially known as the locality of Constitution Hill. The suburb of Constitution Hill

Constitution Hill, New South Wales

Constitution Hill is a suburb of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Constitution Hill is located on a hill 28 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Parramatta and is part of the Western Sydney region...

 was officially recognised in 2007.

Geography

The area is bounded on the north east by Toongabbie Creek, a tributary of the Parramatta River

Parramatta River

The Parramatta River is a waterway in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Parramatta River is the main tributary of Sydney Harbour, a branch of Port Jackson, along with the smaller Lane Cove and Duck Rivers....

. Although Toongabbie is relatively densely settled, in recent years programs of bushland regeneration, pollution control and remedial works to local waterways have seen a surprising return by several rare wildlife species, and in the 1990s platypus

Platypus

The platypus is a semi-aquatic mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. Together with the four species of echidna, it is one of the five extant species of monotremes, the only mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young...

 were reported to have returned to sections of Toongabbie Creek.

Notable residents

• Former NSW Premier Nathan Rees
  Nathan Rees
  Nathan Rees MP, , an Australian politician, was the 41st Premier of New South Wales and parliamentary leader of the New South Wales division of the Australian Labor Party from September 2008 to December 2009...
  
   was raised in Old Toongabbie and attended Northmead High school.