Sydenham developed after the Illawarra line came through the area to Hurstville in the late 1800s. It was named after Sydenham, a suburb of London, similar for its close proximity to the city and a railway junction. The station was originally known as Marrickville when it opened on 15 October 1884. It was changed to Sydenham on 19 March 1895 when a new line was being built to Bankstown and the first station was to be called Marrickville. The post office opened in April 1899 as Tempe Park and was only renamed Sydenham in 1964. Marrickville Council proposed the Sydenham Creative Hub—a commercial area of bars, cafes and galleries—near Sydenham Station sometime after 2011. On 12 December 2017, the Inner West Council voted to shrink the proposed precinct to an area immediately adjacent to the Station only. Sydenham has a number of heritage-listed sites, including Sydenham railway station.
Population
In the 2016 Census, there were 1,145 people in Sydenham. 51.9% of people were born in Australia and 51.0% of people only spoke English at home. The most common responses for religion were No Religion, 35.6%, Catholic 20.1%, Buddhism 11.9%, Not stated 9.3% and Eastern Orthodox 6.7%.
Transport
is a junction for three lines on the Sydney Trains network: the Illawarra, Airport & South and Bankstown lines.
Former tram/light rail service
A cross country line connected the Cooks River Line and the Dulwich Hill line via Sydenham, operating along Railway Road and Sydenham Road in Sydenham.
Commercial area
Sydenham has a mixture of residential and industrial developments. A small group of shops is located around the intersection of Unwins Bridge Road and Railway Road, close to Sydenham railway station. Commercial developments are also located along Sydenham and Marrickville Roads heading towards Marrickville. Marrickville MetroShopping Centre is also very close to Sydenham.
Sydenham Green
This suburb is directly under the flight path of Sydney Airport. To deal with noise complaints from residential properties between Unwins Bridge Road and the Princes Highway, the government compulsory acquired these properties and converted them into a recreational park. Sydenham Green is located on either side of Railway Road, named after the park of the same name in Sydenham, London. Two heritage buildings along Railway Road were retained, a sandstone terrace house and St Marys Church which was later controversially demolished after a suspicious fire.) In the park, a series of oversized 'living room' sculptures - lamp, chairs and fireplace pays homage to the residential houses that formerly occupied the site.
