Albion Park is a suburb situated in the Macquarie Valley in the City of Shellharbour, which is in turn one of the three local government areas that comprise the Wollongong Metropolitan Area, New South Wales, Australia. Although it is surrounded by a 'green belt' of farms, Albion Park had a population of 13,316 at the . The Illawarra escarpment is to the west, Dapto is to the north, Jamberoo is to the south and Shellharbour is to the east. History On 9 January 1821 the area around Albion Park was part of a grant of land of over 2000 acres given to Samuel Terry, a former convict who became one of the richest men in New South Wales. Terry owned and operated the Terry's Meadows Estate, which operated as a cattle stud. In 1834, Terry suffered from a stroke and died in 1838. The land was inherited by Samuel Terry's nephew, John Terry Hughes. Hughes renamed the site to Albion Park. The township began to grow around the centre of the estate. For European settlers, this had been a natural meeting place as it was where the road from Wollongong in the north crossed the road from the timber industry in Calderwood and Tongarra in the west as it ran out towards the port at Shellharbour. The arrival of the railway line in 1887, and the completion of the road through Macquarie Pass to the Southern Highlands, hastened the town's growth. Heritage listings Albion Park has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: Tullimbar Road: Toongla Etymology The term "Albion" is an ancient name of Great Britain. The name was given to the area by John Terry Hughes after originally being known as the Terry's Meadow Estate. Population According to the 2021 census of Population, there were 13,826 people in Albion Park. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 4.5% of the population. 84.1% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were England 4.2%, New Zealand 0.8%, Scotland 0.6% and Germany 0.6%. 90.4% of people only spoke English at home. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 39.0%, Catholic 24.3%, and Anglican 17.2%. Infrastructure Trains In order to avoid the highest parts of the ridge between Albion Park and Minnamurra, the railway needed to keep closer to the shore of Lake Illawarra. After the opening of Albion Park railway station two km