Sydenham

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.

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% and Buddhism 11.9%.

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 Metro Shopping Centre is also very close to Sydenham.

The suburb suffers from aircraft noise because it is directly under the flight path of Sydney Airport. To alleviate resident noise complaints, many of the residential properties between Unwins Bridge Road and thePrinces Highway were bought by the government and converted into a recreational park, which was named Sydenham Green after the park in London. Two heritage buildings remain standing along Railway Road: St Marys Church and a sandstone terrace. A series of oversized 'living room' sculptures - lamp, chairs and fireplace pays homage to the residential houses that formerly occupied the site.