Corrimal is a northern suburb of the city of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. Corrimal's CBD is situated on the Princes Highway, and several streets adjacent to it. The main shopping centres are Lederer Corrimal and Corrimal Park Mall next to the park on the highway. Outside this centre is an old locomotive that is affectionately known as "The Green Frog" that Corrimal is known for, the welcome signs featuring it. It ran on the Bulli Colliery Line to Bellambi Haven from 1909 to 1967. To the west is a lawn bowls club and a wealthy foothill neighbourhood of residences bordering bushland. Corrimal is served by Corrimal railway station on the South Coast Line, located on Railway Street which connects the station to the heart of the town. Immediately west of Corrimal railway station is the Corrimal Cokeworks, after 100 years of operation it closed in 2014. The towers are a prominent local sight and can be seen from Wollongong. The railway crosses the first level crossing north of Wollongong immediately north of the station. On the second Sunday in September Corrimal hosts the annual Spring Into Corrimal family festival, which includes market stalls on the closed main streets, a parade, contest and other activities. 2009 was the 30th anniversary of the parade. In the 2007 festival the world's largest skateboard was displayed.. In 2018 the attendance rate was approx. 70,000 people and cemented "Spring into Corrimal" as the largest one day free family festival in Regional NSW.. Corrimal is serviced by Corrimal Region Action Group , a volunteer organization that is made up of community citizens and organizations for the betterment of Corrimal and surrounding suburbs. CRAG continues to work with Wollongong City Council to revitalize the township. CRAG were instrumental in developing the "Corrimal Town Centre Plan 2015-2025" along with Council. CRAG is a true volunteer organization that has no alignment to any political group and strives to work only for the citizens and area. Corrimal is the birthplace of "Streets Ice Cream" The Streets Ice Cream Company came from humble beginnings. Edwin Street started making ice cream in a small churn, just after the depression, to supply his milk bar. It tasted so good that other shops wanted to buy it and before long, Mr. Street was supplying ice cream to dozens of shops in and out of the area. He built an ice works and factory near the corner of Princes Highway and Tarrawanna Road. Many locals still remember the huge neon sign, featuring a polar bear licking an ice cream outside the Corrimal Works. Streets Ice Cream was sold to Unilever Australia in 1960 and is still in operation making family favorites such as Bubble O'Bill, Cornetto, Magnum, Golden Gaytime and the ever popular Paddle Pop that are enjoyed all over the world. 1891- Corrimal Cougars Cricket Club and Corrimal Rangers Football Club established. 1912- Corrimal Cougars Rugby League team established, in the 1930's, Arthur Ziems donates land next to his butchery for a rugby league field. Corrimal has four primary schools and one high school. St Columbkille's is Corrimal's local Roman Catholic school. There is also Corrimal Public School, Illawarra Adventist School, Corrimal High School and Aspect, a school for children with autism.
History
The suburb takes its name from a point on the bordering Illawarra escarpment which was known as Mount Corrimal and now called Broker's Nose. The first industry and settlement at Corrimal was that of logging, followed by mining operations. In 1830 the first grant of land was made, to James Martin, of. Corrimal was first recorded in 1839 when a grant was sold at Corrimal. In 1834 the Bulli Parish road was made with convict labour, directed by Major Mitchell. In 1883 Thomas Bertram opened the Corrimal colliery, also known as the Corrimal-Balgownie Colliery. Corrimal station opened in 1887, when bullock teams ceased transporting coal from the mine to the railway and were replaced by a private colliery mine constructed by the Southern Coal Company, which had taken over operations from Bertram. In 1889 Broker's Nose Colliery was renamed Corrimal Colliery, which closed in 1985. Streets ice cream was founded there in the 1930s.
