Rotunda at Balmoral Beach, Sydney

Hunter Park was originally part of the land on which Captain John Edwards built his stone house in 1839.

[8] In the early 1860s his son John Edwards established a "pleasure ground" which he called Balmoral Gardens and it was from this that the present area was named.

Numerous descriptions are found in the Sydney Morning Herald during the 1860s of a typical fun day that was enjoyed in the gardens.

For example, in 1862 a social group describes a forthcoming event in which they will take a steam boat to Balmoral Gardens and participate in activities such as foot races, cricket, jumping, throwing weights and quoits.

In the early 1880s Livingston Hopkins established the Artist's Camp at the northern part of Balmoral Beach near what now is Awaba Street.

It was demolished in 1951 and Stancliff flats (at 8 Wyargine Street) which is now a Heritage Listed building was constructed on the site.

Numerous notices were placed in the newspapers during the 1930s and 1940s for band concerts to be held at the Balmoral Beach Rotunda on Sunday afternoons and sometimes the evenings.