Casula was first settled by agriculturalists in the nineteenth century, among them Richard Guise, who named his farm "Casula". The area became dominated by poultry farming, market gardening and fruit growing. Another notable farm was Glenfield Farm, which dates from circa 1817. Situated in Leacocks Lane, it originally belonged to Charles Throsby, a member of the Legislative Council and an explorer. The farm is the oldest continuously worked farm in Australia and is listed on the Register of the National Estate. During World War I, a large Australian Imperial Forces recruitment and training reserve was located in Casula - a fact reflected by the name of one of its major residential streets, "Reserve Road". This camp became briefly notorious in 1916 when a large mob of soldiers rebelled against the strict training regimen, marched on nearby Liverpool, ransacked and looted several pubs, hijacked several trains to Central station in Sydney and continued their drunken rioting, resulting in the MilitaryPolice shooting dead one rioter. In 1918, Walter Ingham Sr. bought of bush land in Casula as a gift to 18-year-old son, Walter. On his death in 1953, his sons Jack and Bob took over the small chicken breeding operation and built it into the largest producer of chickens and turkeys in Australia. Inghams Enterprises is now headquartered in Liverpool. Casula Post Office opened on 1 February 1924 and closed in 1979. A Liverpool South office was renamed Cross Roads in 1964 and Casula Mall in 1990 and remains open. Being heavily farmed, the area did not become suburbanised until the late 1950s. Much of the acreage in the central and southern portions were subdivided and developed over the next few decades but even now there are pockets of undeveloped land.
Heritage listings
Casula has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
The National Parks & Wildlife Service Leacock Regional park is home to one of the last remaining stands of Cumberland Plain Woodland. It is also home to the critically endangered Cumberland Plain Land Snail . The ridge line at the top of the park offers views to the Holsworthy bush land. The bellbird walking track takes you through the remnant stand of Cumberland Plain Woodland and can be linked to a track along the Georges River where a lookout can be found by the Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre. The 'Weaving Garden' bush regeneration group are currently bush regenerating within the reserve.
Landmarks
The Casula Powerhouse, which is situated next to Casula railway station, was a former 1950s power station. It reopened in 1994 as an arts centre housing many culturally diverse exhibitions from artists living in the South West Region of Sydney. Past projects includes Viet Nam Voices, Cybercultures, Shanghai Star, and Belonging. The centre closed in July 2006 to undergo significant renovations. The new centre opened on 5 April 2008 and counts a 326-seat theatre, new exhibition spaces, artist studios and residencies among its facilities.
Commercial area
Transport
Casula is bordered on the north and west by the M5 Motorway, with continuous freeway-standard highway to central Sydney and the North Shore. The Hume Highway cuts through the centre of Casula. Casula railway station is on the Inner West & Leppington and Cumberland lines of the Sydney Trains network, but it is located far from the commercial area. Relatively frequent Transit Systems bus services link Casula to the major commercial and retail centre of Liverpool and Liverpool station.
Schools
Casula Primary School was opened on De Meyrick Avenue in 1959, Casula High School opened in 1973.
Housing
Casula is notable for its variable demographics and mixture of socio-economic levels existing side by side. The central and southern areas consist mainly of privately owned houses including the locally famous ranch-style mansion on Old Kurrajong Road owned by Bob Ingham.
Population
According to the 2016 census, Casula had a population of 15,662, which was substantially families. Of occupied private dwellings in Casula, 73.4% were separate houses, 24.6% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc., 1.6% were flat or apartments and 0.0% were other dwellings. In Casula, 51.1% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were Iraq 3.6%, Fiji 3.3%, Lebanon 2.7%, India 2.5% and Vietnam 2.0%. 39.9% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Arabic 14.5%, Hindi 4.2%, Greek 2.8%, Vietnamese 2.8% and Italian 2.5%. The most common responses for religion in Casula were Catholic 27.3%, Islam 15.9%, No Religion, so described 9.5%, Not stated 9.2% and Eastern Orthodox 7.5%. In Casula, Christianity was the largest religious group reported overall .
Casula Cup
An annual athletic competition held for all persons who have resided in Casula. The winner of the 3 race series is awarded the Casula Cup. Previous winners include Geoff Wood, Jason Good and Michael Brewster.
