Beacon Hill is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 17 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. It is part of the Northern Beaches region. History Beacon Hill was given the title when the Department of Lands built a trigonometric beacon there in 1881. Aboriginal culture Little is known of local aboriginal culture in the Beacon Hill area but other local areas towards the sea have a rich and diverse aboriginal background. There are some aboriginal carvings in rocks to the north of Red Hill. European settlement Daniel Egan, a member of the NSW Parliament, purchased two parcels of land on 5 October 1857. Most of the houses in the suburb were built in the boom days after World War II, in the 1950s and 1960s. Many of the streets in Beacon Hill are named after notable battles, military men or places where Australian troops served in World War II. These include Owen Stanley Avenue, Kokoda Crescent, Goroka Place and Lae Place. Beacon Hill Post Office opened on 1 August 1949 and closed in 1986. Beacon Hill High School was established in 1964 and closed in 2002. Demographics According to the 2016 census, there were 7,457 people in Beacon Hill. 67.5% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 6.2%, China 3.3%, Italy 2.3% and New Zealand 2.3%. 76.5% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Italian 3.6%, Mandarin 3.0% and Cantonese 1.5%. The most common responses for religious affiliation were Catholic 29.9%, No Religion 28.3% and Anglican 16.6%. Transport Beacon Hill is serviced by Keolis Downer Northern Beaches bus services. For many years there have been plans put forward, then withdrawn again for a heavy rail line to be constructed to service the Northern Beaches. Most residents therefore drive motor vehicles to get around. Landmarks Governor Phillip Lookout This lookout is located atop Beacon Hill itself. Views of almost the entire eastern half of the Sydney region may be had from the summit which is approximately 152 metres (500 ft) above sea level. Views extend from the southern outskirts of Sydney, west to the Blue Mountains and north to Gosford and the Central Coast. The skyline of the city is to the south. Ships, pleasure craft and occasional migratory whales