Beachside Tourist Caravan Park

DESCRIPTION

NameBeachside Tourist Caravan ParkTypeCemeteryBusinessComplexShellharbour City CouncilGeolocation^[1] Last edited by: Will Chittick

AddressJohn Street,Shellharbour VillageDescriptionPart of the Beachside Tourist Caravan Park was once the former Shellharbour Sand Cemetery, on what was then known as 'The Driftway' on the foreshore at Shellharbour Village.

The cemetery is marked on an 1851 deed of partition, however it is presumed the cemetery was used prior to this date, when the European settlers first lived and worked in the area. The cemetery became damaged and eroded by rough seas, and in 1889 the NSW government resumed the land on which the ‘Driftway’ cemetery was located for a recreational reserve. The reserve land, and old sand cemetery then came under the management of Shellharbour Council.

As the new Shellharbour General Cemetery was not dedicated until 1895, it is assumed the old sand cemetery was used until at least this time.

The old sand cemetery remained derelict for many years. During the summer months the foreshores south of Shellharbour around Bassett Park and Bass Point, developed as popular camping grounds, and from about the 1890's people began to informally camp in the area.

In the 1930's campgrounds began to include caravans. By the 1950's this site had developed into a formal caravan park managed by Shellharbour Council and has been known as several variations on its current name.

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