Built 1883. Located 39-41A Garfield Road East, Riverstone.
Also known as Riverstone Terrace.
The terrace shops were constructed for Joseph Parrington and are
featured in the sale catalogue of the 1880s. They are the only extant
example in Blacktown Local Government Area of a 19th century terrace
building. A group of four shops in a two storey terrace block,
constructed of brick with upper level balcony diplaying decorative
parapet and unified balustrading.
In the 1880s the original Riverstone land grant was subdivided and sold
off. A pattern of intersecting streets was laid out, mostly named after
famous streets in London (eg Piccadilly Street, Gladstone Parade etc).
A substantial railway station, churches and other infrastructure were
also constructed. The presumption was that Riverstone was set to become
an important regional centre but his did not actually happen. Most of
the allotments were eventually taken up for suburban housing but a few
of the original 1880s blocks remain vacant to the present day.
Parrington Terrace is a curious relic of the anticipated 19th century
population boom. It was meant to be the first of a row of high-density
terrace housing units that would run the length of Garfield Road.
However this single block and the small unit next to it were the only
ones ever built. For many years the sight of a high density inner-city
housing block situated in an empty country paddock remained a bizarre
local landmark.
