Kalsina Flat (sometimes spelled Calsina Flat or Calcina Flat) is the original name for an area near Tighes Hill and Port Waratah where a copper smelter was constructed in 1867. The area is now the suburb of Mayfield East.
The name first appears as a street name in an 1869 subdivision map.
An explanation of the name appears in a 1939 article on the history of Tighe’s Hill.
Mayfield East was originally known as Kalsina Flat. It was so called because the original inhabitants worked at the Calcina Furnaces at the Port Waratah copper-smelting works.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 2 September 1939.
The mention of “Calcina Furnaces” is a somewhat strange way to refer to the “calcining furnaces” of the smelter.
The name (Calcina Flat) first appears in the newspaper on 12 June 1876, and a reference on 27 September 1876 describes it as being “near Tighe’s Hill”. An August 1884 funeral notice indicates that Ingall Street was considered part of Calcina Flat. In 1885 Waratah Municipal Council received a letter …
From Mr. Charles Upfold, on behalf of the Sydney Soap and Candle Company, stating that they were about to erect very extensive works at Calcina Flat, and that it was found necessary to lay down a railway line from the works to connect with the Waratah Company’s line.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 23 April 1885.
A 1939 street directory shows that Kalsina St was part of the route of the Port Waratah tram line that operated from December 1916 to November 1938. (The path of the tramway can be seen marked in red as a later addition on the 1869 subdivision map.)
The usage of Kalsina Flat as a locality name appears to peter out in the 1910s and in December 1917 an article refers to Mayfield East as being “formerly known as Kalsina Flat”.
This page is part of the collection of Newcastle’s Obsolete Place Names.