Mascot, New South Wales

Mascot is a suburb in south-eastern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mascot is located 7 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is one of the administrative centres of the Bayside Council. Mascot is on the north-west side of Botany Bay and contains Sydney Airport.HistoryThe first land grants in the area were made in 1835, with market gardening being the main land use. Subdivision followed the construction of Botany Road in 1875 and a municipality known as North Botany was formed in 1888. A racecourse operated in this area in 1904 on land that was formerly owned by the Australian Golf Club. The race course was known as Ascot, named after its famous counterpart in England. Residents wanted the area to have an individual identity and a referendum was held in 1911 to choose between Ascot, and Booralee. An objection from the postal authorities to the use of 'Ascot' led the council to alter the name to Mascot.In 1920, Mascot was chosen as the site of a public airfield. Nigel Love was leasing 200acre from the Kensington Race club and in 1921 the Commonwealth Government purchased 161acre for this purpose. The first regular flights began in 1924. Cooks River was diverted away from the area in 1947-52 to provide more land for the airport.