LIKE a fine wine, Wallsend only gets better with age.
And, as the suburb gears up to celebrate its 150th birthday and entry into the exclusive sesquicentennial club, WOW Wallsend Town Business Association chair Wayne Rogers has one message for the community, "Let them eat cake".
The celebrations officially launch April 13, 150 years on from 1874 when Wallsend officially came to be with the announcement and incorporation of a municipal council.
"It's like a little country town I reckon, everyone knows everyone," Mr Rogers said.
"I'm excited, I can't believe it's actually here, it's been so long in the planning and now it's great that it's actually going to happen.
"This Saturday we've got a lot of officials coming and we're hoping some residents come along too, I mean the cake is big.
"They'd better come, otherwise we'll be eating cake for a month."
Wallsend's history is intricately linked to coal seams, originally called Nikkinba by the Awabakal people, which translates to 'place of coal', the resource attracted settlers in the 19th and 20th centuries.
It started as two separate mining towns, Wallsend and Plattsburg, and in 1879 the Plattsburg Borough Council was established, with James Birrell as the mayor.
The two councils merged in 1915, forming the Wallsend Minucipal Council, later amalgamating with Newcastle City Council in 1938.
Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery said Wallsend's working class and mining history is what makes it unique.
"There's also our special love of soccer, we have some of the oldest soccer clubs in the state like Minmi, and later in the month we'll have a special historical soccer match with the old jerseys on to remember those times," she said.
"What's also special about Wallsend is the people, we look after one another and care about one another.
"It's really grown over the years which is beautiful, there's so much more diversity with the growth of our hospitals and university, we have people coming from all over the world to settle in Wallsend, there's a lot to be said about our wonderful history."
The first motor car came to Wallsend from Newcastle in 1902 with a loud clunk and a bang, 22 years later there were 100 cars registered in the suburb.
At one stage, there were more than 30 pubs in Wallsend and the township had modern gas and water services with a population of 6,890.
The high-quality coal mined in the suburb fuelled the town's growth, transforming it into a strong commercial centre where is has now expanded beyond its historical main street.
Newcastle lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes said it's wonderful to have another part of Newcastle celebrating its sesquicentennial anniversary.
"This is one of many celebrations we are holding over the year and it will culminate with a large scale event on August 17, which will be a really big Wallsend Winter Fair which will be family-friendly with story-telling and a legacy time capsule," she said.
"Wallsend has changed so much, the history of Wallsend is intricately linked to coal and coal mining and it was the original home of the Awabakal people and different clans, and was called 'Nikkinba', which from what I understand translates directly to 'place of coal'.
"So even its Indigenous name recognised the coal resources in and around Wallsend.
"This is a really good way to kick off a year of celebrations."
To mark the 150th anniversary, a cake cutting ceremony will be held at the well-known rotunda at the corner of Tyrell and Nelson streets, at 10am on April 13.
The event will feature a talk by local historians and acknowledgement of 101 years' young Wallsend centenarian Billy Moore.
