Editing Cronulla (section)

==History==

Cronulla is derived from the [[Aboriginal Australians|Aboriginal]] word {{lang|aus|Kurranulla}}, meaning "place of the small pink seashell" in the dialect of the area's [[indigenous Australians|Indigenous]] inhabitants, the [[Gweagal]], who were a clan of the Tharawal (or [[Tharawal people|Dharawal]]) tribe. They inhabited the southern geographic areas of Sydney. The beaches were named by Surveyor [[Robert Dixon (explorer)|Robert Dixon]] who surveyed here in 1827-28 and, by 1840, the main beach was still known as Karranulla.<ref>http://www.sutherland.nsw.gov.au/ssc/rwpattach.nsf/0/Factsheet_6_FINAL_20030728.pdf/$file/Factsheet_6_FINAL_20030728.pdf Sutherland Shire Place Names {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061004033452/http://www.sutherland.nsw.gov.au/ssc/rwpattach.nsf/0/Factsheet_6_FINAL_20030728.pdf/%24file/Factsheet_6_FINAL_20030728.pdf |date=4 October 2006 }}</ref> In July 1852 the schooner Venus was wrecked on the beach, which was referred to in newspaper reports as Cooranulla.<ref>Sydney Morning Herald, 30 Jun 1852,p2</ref>

[[Matthew Flinders]] and [[George Bass]] explored and mapped the coastline and Port Hacking estuary in 1796 and the southernmost point of Cronulla is named Bass and Flinders Point in their honour. John Connell received a grant of {{convert|380|acre|km2}} in 1835. Thomas Holt (1811–88) owned most of the land that stretched from Sutherland to Cronulla in the 1860s. Holt built Sutherland House on the foreshore of Gwawley Bay in 1818, on the eastern side of Sylvania. In 1888 master mariner Captain Joseph Henry Rounce Spingall became the pioneering resident of Cronulla when, with his family, he constructed the two-storey 'Oriental Guest House' on land above where today's North Cronulla Hotel sits. The Depression of 1890 and a lack of reliable transport access from Sutherland saw "The Captain's" pub sold. The Cronulla area was subdivided in 1895 and land was offered for sale at 10 pounds per acre. In 1899, the government named the area {{lang|aus|Gunnamatta}}, which means ''sandy hills''. On 26 February 1908, it was officially changed to Cronulla and Gunnamatta was used for the name of the bay, on the western side.
[[File:Northies cronulla..jpg|thumb|left|Northies Hotel]]
After the Illawarra railway line was built to Sutherland in 1885, the area became popular for picnics and swimming. [[Trams in Sydney|Steam trams]] operated between Cronulla and Sutherland from 1911. Many regulars rented beach houses at Cronulla every year for school holidays. The Oriental Hotel was built by Captain Spingall in 1888, on the present site of apartments behind the North Cronulla Hotel. The Cecil Hotel was located on the foreshore of South Cronulla and the Ritz Café was popular with holiday-makers. The Cecil Apartments were built on the former site of this hotel. The steam trams were replaced by the Cronulla branch of the Illawarra railway line when it opened in 1939.<ref>''The Book of Sydney Suburbs'', Compiled by Frances Pollon, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1990, Published in Australia {{ISBN|0-207-14495-8}}</ref>

The post office opened in January 1891, known as Cronulla Beach, but closed in 1893. It reopened in 1907 and the name was officially changed to Cronulla in 1929.  
[[File:Cronulla School of Arts Building est. 1912.jpg|thumb|Cronulla School of Arts Est 1904]]
The Cronulla School of Arts was established in 1904. The original wooden building was demolished and replaced by the current School of Arts building in November 1912 and is now one of the oldest buildings in Cronulla.

The first public school opened in 1910.{{citation needed|date=February 2018}} In 1955, [[Cronulla Library]] opened.<ref name=Watt>{{cite book|last1=Watt|first1=Bruce|title=The Shire : A journey through time|date=2014|publisher=Everbest|location=China|isbn=9780646920191|page=199}}</ref> From the 1950s, many of the guest houses began being replaced by high rise flats. Even though it developed as a residential area, Cronulla remained popular with beachgoers and tourists. Several hotels, motels and serviced apartments operate today. The Cronulla Bicentennial Plaza opened in February 1989.

In 2005 the beachfront at Cronulla was the scene of widely publicised [[2005 Cronulla riots|mob disturbances and violent confrontations]].<ref name="smh1">{{cite news|title=Mob violence envelops Cronulla|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/mob-violence-envelops-cronulla/2005/12/11/1134235936223.html|publisher=[[Australian Associated Press]]|date=11 December 2005|access-date=31 August 2006}}</ref> These incidents continued over a number of days and also spread to other areas in Sydney.<ref name="aus01">{{cite news|title=Now churches are targeted|url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17572776%255E601,00.html|publisher=[[The Australian]]|access-date=31 August 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060208214651/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17572776%255E601,00.html|archive-date=8 February 2006|url-status=dead}}</ref>