In 1842 William Favell and his wife Eleanor were farming a property named Hillside on this site. Their neighbours were the families of Thomas Curtis and Henry Blackwell, who were orchardists and gardeners. The farms and orchards were subdivided when the railway came through. The railway station opened on 21 September 1931. The light industrial buildings were built close to the railway line and one of the biggest factories in the area was the Streets Ice Cream factory, which has since closed. The post office was originally known as West Arncliffe when it opened on 26 April 1933 but in January 1948 became known as Arncliffe West. It became Turrella in August 1952 but closed on 21 December 1970.
Heritage listings
Turrella has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
Turrella borders a piece of remnant bushland, the Wolli Creek Valley, beside Wolli Creek. There have been active movements fighting for its preservation in the face of demands for land. The most successful of these prevented the building of the M5 South Western Motorway through the valley, resulting in the road being built as a tunnel under the valley known as the M5 East. Nevertheless, community concern remains over plans to extend the M5 at Bexley.
Schools
Arncliffe West Infants School is located in Loftus Street. The former Cairnsfoot Special School premises is located opposite. The original Cairnsfoot building is heritage listed. One well known headmistress of Arncliffe West Infants School was Miss Knight, who served there in the 1950s and 1960s.
In the 2016 Census, there were 2,511 people in Turrella. 45.8% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were China 11.6% and Lebanon 4.6%. 36.5% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Arabic 13.8%, Mandarin 11.1%, Macedonian 5.0% and Cantonese 4.4%. The most common responses for religion in Turrella were No Religion 28.4%, Islam 18.3% and Catholic 17.2%. According to the 2011 Australian Bureau of Statistics Census of Population, there were 1,600 people usually resident in Turrella. 42.3% stated they were born overseas with the top countries of birth being Lebanon 9.4%, Macedonia 5.6% and China 5.7%. English was stated as the only language spoken at home by 35.8% of residents and the most common other languages spoken were Arabic 29.6%, Macedonian 9.3%, Cantonese 4.2%, Mandarin 3.2% and Italian 2.1%. The most common responses for religious affiliation were Islam 33.4%, Catholic 19.8% and Orthodox 13.2%. According to the 2006 Australian Bureau of Statistics Census of Population, there were 1,011 people usually resident in Turrella. 39.4% stated they were born overseas with the top countries of birth being Lebanon 10.8%, Macedonia 7.5% and China 2.6%. English was stated as the only language spoken at home by 41.8% of residents and the most common other languages spoken were Arabic 28.7%, Macedonian 12.7% and Italian 4.3%. The most common responses for religious affiliation were Islam 27.0%, Catholic 20.7% and Orthodox 15.4%.
Former notable residents
Chris Flannery notorious hitman in the Sydney underworld in the 1980s. An attempt on Flannery's life in January 1985 at his home was recreated at the actual house in Turrella Street in the 1995 television series Blue Murder, with the bullet marks still being present.
