Bar Beach is an inner city suburb of Newcastle

Newcastle, New South Wales

The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...

, New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, located 1.6 km (0.994196378639691 mi) southwest of Newcastle's central business district

Central business district

A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...

. abutting the beach of the same name.

The beach is home to the Cooks Hill Surf Life Saving Club.

History

The Australian Agricultural Company

Australian Agricultural Company

The Australian Agricultural Company is a company which serves to improve beef cattle production through responsible natural resource and land use...

 held extensive Crown land grants in the Newcastle area that have since been developed into the modern day suburbs of Bar Beach, Cooks Hill, Hamilton

Hamilton, New South Wales

Hamilton is a suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, located from Newcastle's central business district. The main commercial centre is located around Beaumont Street and boasts a vibrant multicultural atmosphere providing an array of restaurants, retail, fashion and commercial outlets...

 and Broadmeadow as well as parts of the Newcastle Central Business Disrict and The Hill. The Company released lots for residential development in Bar Beach in 1924.

A natural rock pool at the beach was named "The Bar" and Bar Beach took its name from that feature.

Shipwrecks

Susan Gilmore Beach was once a local name for the northern part of the beach, named after the American clipper Susan Gilmore that was wrecked there in the early hours of 4 July 1884. Nearby the City of Newcastle (on 12 September 1878) and (on 27 July 1945) were also wrecked.

Heritage

The suburb has a number of local landmarks which have been heritage listed including the Cooks Hill Surf Life Saving Club and Memorial, Reid Park Tennis Clubhouse and Tennis Courts and the Empire Park Bowling Club Fence. A number of residential units in the Art Deco style have also attracted heritage listing.

Views of Bar Beach