Figure 1. (Source: https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-230189835/view)

by Rodney Hammett, Bulletin 7/2022, September 2022

When reviewing a recent DA in Allen St, I found the firm that prepared the heritage impact statement had irrelevant and incorrect information regarding the history of Allen St. For others who might like to know the history behind the creation of Allen St, here are some relevant facts.

Advertising for the first subdivision of Toxteth Park in May 1886 shows Park Rd as the original name of what was to become Allen St (see Figure 1 with Park Rd circled in red). The upcoming sale was described as ‘The Sale of the Season’.1

Figure 2. (Source: https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-230189835/view)

Housing lots were first developed on the eastern side of Park Rd for sale from 1889 (Figure 2). Note that Toxteth Park House & Grounds were on the western side of Park Rd, but this area was not yet for sale.

Water mains were laid in Allen St during 1895-96.2 Allen St was first listed in Sands Directory in 1895, when 11 dwellings were included (Figure 3). Street numbering was introduced in 1896 for the western side and in 1901 for the eastern side.

It would seem that Park Rd became known as Allen St in 1894. Allen St was of course named after the Allen family who owned the Toxteth Estate and lived in what we now know as St Scholastica’s College.

Figure 3. (Source: https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-230189835/view)

The southern portions of Toxteth Park, between Toxteth Rd and Arcadia Rd, including some of Avenue Rd, also started to be developed 1895. See details of the early development of Arcadia Rd and Avenue Rd.  Bulletin 05/2021.

Notes: 1. Trove: Evening News; Thu 15 Apr 1886, p. 8; 2. Trove: Sydney Morning Herald; Thu 4 Jul 1895, p. 6.