Port Stephens City - North Arm Cove NSW - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

Located within Yallarwah Park in North Arm Cove, this sign is the third of four in a series dedicated to exploring the local history and contributing to placemaking within the area. This particular sign recounts the fascinating history of a proposed "Port Stephens City," a bold urban planning vision for the North Arm Cove peninsula. The sign reads:

Yallarwah Park
3/4

Port Stephens City

Archie Campbell
In May 1904 the AA company sold Portion 427, encompassing all of the North Arm Cove peninsula, about 1,380 acres in area, to Archie Campbell, a dairy farmer from Raymond Terrace. It is not clear what he did with the land, but he probably used it for agistment.

Land Limited
Land Limited, whose principals were Austin Chapman MP and Samuel Emmett, purchased Portion 427 from Archie Campbell in January 1918. At this time, there was a lot of interest in developing Port Stephens as a port for a decentralised Northern NSW, including a possible railway extension of the main northern rail line. Austin Chapman was at various times a State or Federal politician, holding several ministerial portfolios, and he invested in mines and real estate. Land Limited engaged American architect and urban planner, Walter Burley Griffin, designer of Canberra, to design city plans for Jervis Bay and Port Stephens.

Walter Burley Griffin
Walter Burley Griffin and his wife Marion came to Australia in 1913 to work on the development of Canberra. Walter designed a diverse range of cities, houses, subdivisions and incinerators. His signature approach blended natural landscapes with urban design and has left a lasting influence on architecture and city planning worldwide.

Port Stephens City
In May 1918, Land Limited submitted Walter Burley Griffin's design for Port Stephens City to Stroud Council, and it was approved at a regular Council meeting on 6 May 1918.
Port Stephens City was a bold vision with broad main streets, a commercial centre, land for public buildings, a city hall, schools, library, customs house and churches. It also included connection to the North Coast Rail Line, a railway station and interchange, jetties and wharves, and extensive parkland along sections of the foreshore.
The road layout was sensitive to the topography, with arcs and sinus curves, and provision for tramways connecting many of the main areas.
Initially things seemed to be going well, but in January 1919 Land Limited was advertising for someone to lease the site for a year, and in June 1919 it was voluntarily wound up and a liquidator was appointed.

Group that erected the marker: North Arm Cove Community Association; Karuah Local Aboriginal Land Council; MidCoast Council; NSW Government Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary: Yallarwah Park, The Ridgeway Worimi Country North Arm Cove, NSW Australia 2324 URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: Not listed

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