Balgowlah

When Captain Arthur Phillip rowed into Port Jackson on January 21 1788 he first entered middle Harbour and then rowed around what is now known as North Harbour.

It is believed to be on that day that he observed the group of Aboriginal men standing near the shore of North Harbour whose manly demeanour eventually led to the naming of that place as Manly.

Which means that the place that we now know as Balgowlah was originally the first Manly and was marked as such on Captain Hunter's map of the harbour produced in April 1788.

Within a few years the name Manly had drifted to the area it is today and the original Manly became known by the aboriginal word "Balgowlah" meaning North Harbour.

By 1834 there were several farms established in the area considered of significance to the colony. By 1850 Peter Ellery started running his hand punt from the Spit giving easier access to the north side. Later trams ran from North Sydney to the Spit on Middle Harbour where the passengers alighted and crossed the narrow neck of water by punt. By 1911 they could board a tram on the north side to continue their journey to Balgowlah, Manly.

In 1924 The Spit Bridge was built and like its neighbours Balgowlah became a suburb with easy access to the city and thus the area grew as city workers began to settle.

The main road crossing Sydney Road is Condamine Street. This is believed to have been named after Lieutenant de la Condamine, an army officer who served in the 1820's.

Sydney Road has an expanding number of eateries and is a good spot to stop for a coffee break.