Category Archives: Kahibah (2290)

Kahibah

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At present there is a suburb of Kahibah (near Charlestown), and a NSW administrative area named the “Parish of Kahibah”. In the past the name was also used in the following ways.

  • In 1863 on the north side of the Swansea channel a village named Kahibah was planned but never developed, and the area eventually became the suburb of Blacksmiths.
  • What is today named Marks Point was originally called Kahibah Point.
  • There was a state electoral district of Kahibah from 1894 to 1971
Google Earth viewing showing the parish of Kahibah, the suburb of Kahibah, the location of the planned 1863 village of Kahibah, and Kahibah Point.

Village of Kahibah (1863-1897)

An 1863 map of the planned “Village of Kahibah” on the north side of the Lake Macquarie inlet channel. HLRV.

The NSW Government Gazette of 23 February 1864 notified …

… the following portion of Crown Lands is declared to be set apart as a site for a village, viz.:— VILLAGE OF KAHIBAH. County of Northumberland, parish of Kahibah, at Kahibah, at the entrance to Lake Macquarie, containing about 120 acres.

A map of Lake Macquarie from 1889 shows “Kahibah” at the original planned location on the Swansea channel. The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser, 9 November 1889.

Allotments of land along the waterfront facing the channel were sold from 1863.

This map shows the owners of allotments along the waterfront. These properties were resumed in the 1880s for harbour improvements.

In 1882 the Department of Public Works began resumim the waterfront allotments “in connection with improvements to the harbour of Lake Macquarie.” As the rest of the village was never sold or developed, on 6 November 1897 “the declaration of Kahibah as a village and the setting apart of village and suburban lands” was revoked, and the design of the village cancelled.

New South Wales Government Gazette, 6 November 1897.

Kahibah Point

The name of “Kahibah Point” first appears in the newspapers on 4 May 1861 in connection with and advertisement for the sale of an allotment of 41 acres of land. The land remained unsold for a number of years until Henry Marks purchased it on 17 June 1876.

Kahibah Pt on the map of land title Vol-Fol 277-99, purchase by Henry Marks in 1876.
1885 map showing “Kahibah Point” at the presently named “Marks Point”. HLRV.
Parrott’s 1893 map shows “Kahibah Pt”. National Library of Australia.
In a 1911 map the headland is now labelled “Marks Point”. National Library of Australia.

Electorate of Kahibah

The NSW state electorate of Kahibah existed in three different incarnations during the years 1894-1920, 1927-1930, and 1950-1971. When the electorate was first formed, the Adamstown council objected to the name of Kahibah and suggested instead that it be called Adamstown …

… on the grounds that it is more central and that the Kahibah township is thinly populated, and the existence of such a place is not generally known.

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 4 September 1893.

The suggestion was ignored, and the electorate was named “Kahibah”. A 1904 map shows that it covered a similar area to the Parish of Kahibah, but excluded areas such as Cardiff and Glendale, and included areas such as Lambton, Adamstown, and Broadmeadow.

NSW electorate of Kahibah in 1904. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.

Suburb of Kahibah

The present day suburb of Kahibah originated when the Waratah Coal Company in 1889 subdivided some of the land on its coal lease near Charlestown.

During its existence the [Waratah Coal] company has formed and sold several townships, and in a few months intend to sell another site in suitable allotments under the name of Kahibah, where the miners from the adjoining collieries may obtain land for building purposes.

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 8 November 1889,
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 12 November 1889.

In 1889 the Redhead Coal Company commenced construction of a rail line from Adamstown to their Burwood Extended mine. The railway passed through the new subdivision of Kahibah. Initially the rail line was used for colliery purposes only, but in August 1900 a passenger train service to Dudley was begun and by 1902 was stopping at Kahibah station.

Pay-Saturday passenger trains running on the Redhead Coy.’s railway will stop at Kahibah platform in future.

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 8 January 1902.
A 1911 map showing the township of Kahibah, and the “Kahibah Platform” on the Redhead Coal Company railway. National Library of Australia.

This page is part of the collection of Newcastle’s Obsolete Place Names.