Concord is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 15 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Canada Bay.
Concord is known as the 'Parklands Suburb' of the Inner West. Concord West is a separate suburb, to the north-west.
History
Concord takes its name from Concord, Massachusetts, in the USA, which was the site of the Battle of Concord, one of the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1778). Some historians believe the Sydney suburb was named Concord to encourage a peaceful attitude between soldiers and settlers. The first land grants in the area were made in 1793.
The original Concord Council was established in 1883. Concord Council amalgamated with Drummoyne Council in 2000 after 117 years of self governance to form the City of Canada Bay. It is also the name of the surrounding parish.
Commercial area
Concord features a small shopping strip on Majors Bay Road. Several cafes and restaurants featuring outside dining are located here. The restaurants and shops include Italian, Chinese & Thai restaurants, a wood-fired pizzeria, steak house, cafes, pharmacy, clothing, TAB, news agent, general practitioners, chiropractor, physiotherapist, dentist, health food shop, hairdresser, beauty shop, nail salon, estate agent, florist, video rental, take-aways (including Subway), an Italian delicatessen, a Coles supermarket, dry cleaners, family butcher, gyms, convenience stores, charcoal chicken takeaway, a Japanese restaurant and Squash Courts.
There is a small shopping strip on Cabarita Road which includes an Italian restaurant, coffee shop, hairdresser, dry cleaners, bottle shop, small grocery store, fish & chip takeaway, video shop and car wash. Around the corner on Gale Street there are two restaurants, a hairdresser and clothes shop.
Churches
St Luke's Anglican Church is one of the oldest churches in Concord. The church is over 150 years old and is located at Burton Street near Concord Oval. Its current organ was donated by Dame Eadith Walker, of the famous Walker family on her 21st birthday in 1883.
St Mary's Catholic Church is a prominent architectural landmark on Parramatta Road. The first church on the site was built in 1845 until a new church was built in 1874. A school operated in the original church building until a separate school building was built and opened by Cardinal Moran in 1894. A convent for the Sisters of Charity was erected next to the church in 1898. The present church building was completed in 1929.
Parks
Concord has many parks, including:
Transport
Concord is well served by Sydney Buses services that connect Burwood and Strathfield with Ryde and Macquarie Centre (via Concord Road; routes 458 and 459, respectively), and Burwood with Mortlake/Breakfast Point, Cabarita, and Bayview Park (routes 462/464, 466, 463 respectively). There are also 2 bus services from Mortlake to the City via Leichhardt (routes 439 and L39), and an all-stops service from Bayview Park to the city via Victoria Road (route 502). Route M41 links Concord with Hurstville to the south and Marsfield to the north. Route 460 is a weekday low frequency off-peak service from Five Dock to Concord Hospital that passes through Concord.
Concord West railway station & North Strathfield railway station service the Concord area. The stops are on the Northern line approximately 14 km from Central Station.
Sydney Ferries service the Concord area stopping at Cabarita Wharf.
Concord was once serviced by an independent tram line which ran from Mortlake and Cabarita junction through Majors Bay Road, Concord, though to Burwood Road (formerly Wharf Street on the Concord side of Parramatta Road) south though Burwood CBD and terminating at Enfield, its most southern point. This tram system did not join with the rest of the Sydney wide tram network which ceased operating in the early 1960s.
Bus services between Mortlake/Breakfast Point and Cabarita to Burwood (and eventually to Ashfield via Enfield, i.e. routes 462/4 and 466) follow the old tram lines through the suburb, which were removed in 1948. Few hints of Concord's trams remain today apart from the extra width of Majors Bay Road and Brewer Street in order to accommodate a double track tramway and the existence of Tramway Lane and Cabarita Junction which is where the tram tracks split, with one track providing the Mortlake branch and the other the Cabarita branch.
Schools
Schools in the suburb are
Population
At the 2011 census, there were 14,150 residents in Concord. 63.7% of people were born in Australia. The most common other countries of birth were Italy 6.8%, China 3.9% and England 1.8%. In Concord 58.8% of people only spoke English at home, compared to the national average of 76.8%. Other languages spoken at home included Italian 12.4%, Greek 4.1%, Mandarin 3.6%, Arabic 3.3% and Cantonese 3.3%. The most common responses for religion in Concord were Catholic 48.8%, No Religion 13.9% and Anglican 10.2%.
Notable residents
Notable people who have resided in the suburb have included:
Popular culture
Canadian Exiles 1840 monument, Bayview Park. Unveiled by the then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau of Canada, May 1970.
Bayview Park wharf
Concord, view from Hen and Chicken Bay
Majors Bay Road cafes
Concord Post Office
War Memorial in Queen Elizabeth Park
Plaque commemorating Thomas Obed Correy, former Mayor of Concord Council. This stone and plaque was formerly from Queen Elizabeth Park Rotunda, demolished in 1972 and relocated to the last Concord Council Chambers site in Wellbank Street, now known as the Concord Library.
St Luke's Anglican Church, Burton Street
City of Canada Bay Museum