Oak Flats

In the years of hardship through the Great Depression many out of work men would camp on vacant land at Oak Flats sometimes with their families.

Fruit boxes were sometimes nailed together and covered with hessian and a lick of lime paint to act as a rough shelter.

In these early years Ok Flats was a haven for tourists especially those from Sydney and the Blue Mountains. Those who could afford to stayed in the swish guesthouses that graced the foreshores. Most people just set up came on the lake banks or built small weekenders out of bits and pieces of building materials.

These holiday makers would take a trip to Stanford’s shop to collect water from the well in kerosene tins. They would spend the days fishing, prawning and swimming. The lake was rumoured to have therapeutic waters and was seen as helpful to those with rheumatism.

After World War Two, housing boomed in Oak Flats. Many displaced migrants came to the area looking for cheap land to build a house for their families and start a new life. Migrants mainly came from Holland, Germany and Finland.

In the 1950s you could buy a block of land at Oak Flats for peanuts. Today, blocks of land sell for over $500,000 on the water. People who live in Oak Flats today still enjoy the lake as much as the people that came before them and the lake is still a big part of their life.

‘Oak Flats; A garden Suburb, Kevin Gillis, The Tongarra Heritage Society.

 

Marta Kirchmajer with her second child, Val in their caravan 'Marigold' at Oak Flats 1952.
Shellharbour Images, Shellharbour City Libraries.