East Hills is a suburb of the city of Bankstown situated in the south western Sydney metropolitan region. The first official European recording of the area was made by George Bass and Matthew Flinders, when they voyaged up the Georges River in the Tom Thumb in 1795. Upon their recommendation, Governor John Hunter inspected the area on two subsequent occasions. Being much pleased, Hunter proclaimed the site of "Banks Town" in January 1798, granting land to "marine settlers on the banks of a river which empties itself into Botany Bay where the land promises well".

The son of Colonel George Johnston of Annandale House, received a grant which he let to Robert Gardiner. The latter named his farm "East Hills", which the surrounding region adopted by the early nineteenth century. However a number of factors were to combine to resist the initial success of the Banks Town settlements. The Georges River region was densely timbered, barring immediate cultivation. With little agricultural experience the marines proved "notoriously poor farmers". Moreover the single most important factor was its isolation from the colony. With no direct overland route, the hazardous sea journey to Sydney Cove offered little alternative.

It was with Governor Lachlan Macquarie's order of the construction of a roadway from Sydney to Liverpool in 1810, that the Georges River region was opened up with a safe overland route. Firstly came the timber getters who denuded much of the forested East Hills region by the 1850s. These were followed by the charcoal burners. Finally and gradually the farmers moved into the region.

Despite these developments, significant settlement remained reluctant for much of the nineteenth century. The gold discoveries of the 1850s served to drain farms of their labour state wide. Then in 1856 the rail line from Sydney to Liverpool commenced its route, which completely by-passed Bankstown. This resulted in an exodus of many outer Sydney areas, as people migrated towards the rail line.

After an unrelenting battle by the "Railways Extension Committee", the railway finally reached Bankstown in 1909. This occasioned an interest in the region, and Bankstown proper thrived. Between 1910 and 1915 the town's population more than tripled, to 6,000 people. With the end of World War One, Bankstown was regarded as satisfying the requirements of manufacturing and light industry, which provided employment opportunities in the area.

Although the subdivision of East Hills occurred in 1893, it remained very much in the shadow of Bankstown's development, retaining a rural profile into the twentieth century. However this was to change with the construction of the East Hills rail line, and opening of a local station in 1931. The attractiveness of its new found accessibility was enhanced by pleasant environs and proximity to the Georges River. Residential interest surged with the close of World War Two, when the ideals of car and home ownership were promoted. Returning soldiers and civilians alike found it to be one of only a few affordable suburbs for settlement. The period architecture which prevails in East Hills is evidence of this post war influx.

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