Bass Hill

Bass Hill, (/bæs hɪl/) a suburb of local government area City of Canterbury-Bankstown, is located 23 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and is a part of the South-western Sydney region.

Bass Hill is named after George Bass, a surgeon and explorer who was granted land here in 1798. He had arrived in the colony in 1795 on HMS Reliance and became friendly with midshipman Matthew Flinders and on arrival they decided to explore parts of the colony. In 1796 on a small boat called the Tom Thumb accompanied by a boy servant William Martin, they sailed into Botany Bay and explored the Georges River, twenty miles (32 km) beyond previous expeditions. They sailed as far as present day Georges Hall. For their exploration efforts Bass and Flinders were rewarded with 100-acre (0.40 km²) land grants in this area by Governor Hunter.

The

area developed rapidly after the completion of Liverpool Road in 1814. Originally known as Irish Town because of the Irish settlements, it later became known as Upper Bankstown. It became officially known as Bass Hill in October 1924.

During World War II, Bass Hill was the location for a small transmitting station that was owned and operated by the RAAF. It was located on the corner of Manuka Crescent & Johnston Road. This facility worked in conjunction with the Bankstown Bunker on Black Charlies Hill in Marion Street, Condell Park, which also worked in conjunction with a remote receiving station that was located in Picnic Point.

Bass Hill Plaza is a 20,000 square metres (220,000 sq ft), district size shopping centre at 753 Hume Highway. The shopping centre includes a Woolworths Supermarket, Kmart, Aldi, Medical Centre, Post Office and approximately 60 specialty stores.

Adjacent to the centre was the Skyline drive-in cinema, opened in 1956 and closed in 2007. It has been demolished and a housing estate called Viewpoint, now occupies the site.

Bass Hill RSL club opened in 1964 and closed in 2019.