Prospect, New South Wales

Prospect
SydneyNew South Wales
The Prospect Reservoir at sunset
Map
Population5,187 (2021 census)[1]
Established1791[2]
Postcode(s)2148
Elevation78 m (256 ft)
Location32 km (20 mi) west of Sydney CBD
LGA(s)City of Blacktown Cumberland City Council
State electorate(s)Prospect
Federal division(s)
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall
23.1 °C
74 °F
12.2 °C
54 °F
870.6 mm
34.3 in
Suburbs around Prospect:
Seven Hills Toongabbie Girraween
Blacktown Prospect Pemulwuy
Eastern Creek Wetherill Park Smithfield

Prospect is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Prospect is located 32 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Blacktown and a small part of Cumberland City Council, is part of the Greater Western Sydney region. One of the oldest suburbs in Sydney, Prospect takes its name from the prominent nearby landmark of Prospect Hill - from the top of which people could get a prospect of (see a great distance) the surrounding countryside.

Initially a settlement for emancipated convicts, it later became a village.[3] Since colonisation, settlers cleared larger areas of land to raise livestock, build churches, inns, schools, shops and a large reservoir.[4] Naturalist Charles Darwin visited Prospect in January 1836, to observe the geology.[5]

  1. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Prospect (State Suburb)". 2021 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 4 October 2024. Edit this at Wikidata
  2. ^ Ryan, R.J., Land Grants 1788-1809, Australian Documents Library, Sydney, 1981
  3. ^ Crittenden, V., On the track of Watkin Tench in MARGIN: Life & Letters in Early Australia, July–August 2003 issue.
  4. ^ Jones, R., Firestick farming in Australian Natural History, 16, (September 1969), pp 224-228
  5. ^ Darwin, C., Notes on the Geology of places visited during the Voyage, p 814 quoted in Mindat: Prospect, New South Wales by Keith Compton, http://www.mindat.org/article.php/1623/%3Cl+id%3D146488%3EProspect%3C_l%3E%2C+%3Cl+id%3D66%3ENew+South+Wales%3C_l%3E