Croydon Park was originally part of the territory of the
Darug tribe which occupied much of Sydney. More specifically, it was probably home to the Wangal clan (based around Concord) but may also have been home to the Cadigal (Sydney) or Bideagal (Botany Bay) clans. There were
middens along the
Cooks River where the indigenous people camped. These were destroyed by early British settlers to make lime for mortar in buildings. A portion of the former Brighton Farm located between Georges River Road and the Cooks River was purchased by
Henry Parkes and was subdivided and sold by auction at the Temperance Hall, Pitt Street on Saturday, 29 September 1877. Henry Parkes renamed this subdivision as Croydon Park to differentiate it from the larger suburb of Croydon to the north. In 1878 and 1880, following the building of a railway station at
Croydon to the north, two large subdivisions of land were undertaken using the name Croydon Park. These constituted the entire area of the current suburb. A piece of flood-prone land at the junction of Croydon Avenue and the Cooks River was reserved as a public park. Given the name Croydon Park, it was the first reserve in the
City of Canterbury. Early settlers included many people involved in the building trade and Chinese market gardeners. A primary school was established in 1886 to cater for the increasing number of children in the area. Mains water was connected in 1889 and sewerage in the 1910s. The Parents and Citizens Association at the public school believed that residents were rather left out of regular postal deliveries and a petition was prepared for their member of parliament asking for a Croydon Park post office to be opened in the area. They were successful in 1914 and the surrounding neighbourhood became a separate suburb. Circa 1890, the mansion
But-har-gra (formerly
Mandama) was built on Georges River Road. A substantial two-storey house of brick, it combines
Italianate and
Federation elements. Gifted to the Church of England in 1934 by the Button Family, it is currently used as residential accommodation for students of
Moore Theological College and is heritage-listed. Between 1891 and 1948, Croydon Park was served by a tram line centred around a depot in Tangarra Street. The line began as a steam tramway, opened in 1891, between
Ashfield Station and Enfield. In 1901, this line was extended north via Liverpool Road and Burwood Road through Burwood to
Mortlake, and in 1909 a branch to
Cabarita Park was opened. The system was electrified in 1912. The line was never connected to any of the other tram lines in Sydney, although its eastern terminus, at Ashfield station, was only one station away (on the main suburban railway line) from the nearest tram terminus at Summer Hill station. ==Commercial area==