Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith Print Page 
The park commemorates aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith (1897 - 1935).
On 7 March 1938, Lord Wakehurst, Governor of NSW, dedicated the entrance pavilion with a slate plaque, the lintel bearing the words Kingsford Smith Memorial Park. This was topped with a hemispherical metal dome showing a relief map of Australia, with a two foot scale model of Southern Cross, constructed by Mr Evan Cork of Randwick, mounted above it. In 1939 Katoomba Council constructed the band rotunda and public lavatories at a cost of ₤329 in time for the official opening on 1 January 1940, by the Hon. L. O. Martin, KCMG, Minister for Works and Local Government, a brass plaque on the pavilion commemorates this.
In 1928, Kingsford Smith, in the aircraft Southern Cross, with co-pilot Charles Ulm, and navigation crew Harry Lyon and Jim Warner, had made the first trans-pacific flight from San Francisco to Brisbane, with refuelling stops at Hawaii and Fiji. Leaving Oakland Field on 31 May, they crossed the coast over Ballina at dawn on 8 June and turned north along the coast for Brisbane to refuel, landing at Eagle Farm. They then flew south to Sydney on the same day, where they were welcomed by a crowd of 300,000 people at Mascot. Smith and Ulm had spent over 83 hours in the air in an open cockpit, numbed by cold and lashed by storms, without sleep and deafened for several days after the flight by the engine noise. Being unable to hear, the only way they could communicate with each other and with Lyon and Walker in the cabin behind was via pencilled notes passed between them, these jottings on scap paper are now preserved in the State Library of New South Wales.
On 8 November 1935, Smithy, at the age of only 38, was killed when he crashed into the sea near Aye Island in the Bay of Bengal, while making an attempt on the England-Australia speed record in the Lady Southern Cross, only the nose wheel of the plane was recovered.
KATOOMBA, Friday. The Katoomba Council has invited Lady Kingsford Smith to open the Kingsford Smith Memorial Park. The park is at present under construction. The area was formerly known as Hudson's Gully, and Is situated near the railway line, close to the railway station.
Sydney Morning Herald (NSW), 26 September 1936.
MEMORIAL AT KINGSFORD SMITH PARK.
The memorial at the corner of Gang Gang and Lurline Streets, the foundation stone of which was unveiled by His Excellency Lord Wakehurst several months ago, has been completed. It has a silver-coloured dome surmounted by an aeroplane. When the park itself will be completed seems not to be within the bounds of prophecy.
Katoomba Daily (NSW ), 24 September 1938.
KATOOMBA, Monday. Dedicated to the great Australian airman, the Kingsford Smith Memorial Park was opened by the Minister for Works and Local Government (Mr. L. O. Martin) today. The Minister also opened the Cliff Drive.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW ),
2 January 1940.
Location
| Address: | Gang Gang & Lurline Streets, Kingsford-Smith Memorial Park, Katoomba, 2780 |
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| State: | NSW |
| Area: | AUS |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -33.712467 Long: 150.312859 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Park |
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| Monument Theme: | People |
| Sub-Theme: | Aviation |
| Designer: | Evan Cork (Southern Cross) |
Dedication
| Actual Monument Dedication Date: | Monday 7th March, 1938 |
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Kingsford Smith
Memorial Park
This park was officially opened by the Hon. L. O. Martin M.L.A. Minister for Works and Local Government
1st January 1940
This tablet was unveiled by His Excellency the Governor of New South Wales the Lord Wakehurst K.C.M.G. on 7th March 1938
In appreciation of the outstanding service rendered by Air Commodore Sir Charles Kingsford Smith M.C., D.F.C. in the cause of aviation and as a tribute to his great skill and courage
