For decades, a chilling urban legend has whispered through Sydney’s inner west: did the horrific crimes of a notorious serial killer couple literally wipe an entire suburb off the map?
The rumours surrounding Macdonaldtown – a name now only clinging to a forgotten train station – suggest a dark secret so profound, it forced town planners to erase its very existence.
But what if the truth behind this vanished borough, now swallowed by Erskineville, is even more shocking, and has a direct impact on property values in one of Sydney’s most sought-after postcodes?
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Today, the only remnants of Macdonaldtown are the obscure train station, one stop before Newtown, and a few scattered plaques in Erskineville.
Yet, in the early 1890s, this burgeoning borough earned infamy across the country, sparking a rumour that has haunted its memory for over a century.
The horror that shook a nation
The story goes that Sydney’s early town planners opted to merge Macdonaldtown into Erskineville after it became synonymous with the “Macdonaldtown baby farmers.”
This case was equal parts horrific and unbelievable: a suburban Sydney couple, Sarah and John Makin, had been fostering unwanted children for money, then brutally killing them to make room for more.
Macdonaldtown’s ‘baby farmers’ Sarah Makin, left, and John Makin, right, ran a grim trade. (Supplied: Museums of History NSW)
A report on the execution of John Makin in the Evening News in 1893.
Their heinous crimes were uncovered in October 1892 at their Burren Street, Macdonaldtown home, when workers digging to connect a pipe unearthed human remains.
What followed was a media frenzy, a high-stakes criminal trial, and ultimately, a hangman’s noose for John Makin on August 16, 1893, in Darlinghurst.
Sarah Makin was spared the death sentence, eventually released from prison in 1911, and died in 1918 at the age of 72.
Records showing Sarah Makin’s death sentence was “commuted”. (Supplied: Museums of History NSW)
The timing raised immediate suspicion: the act to rename Macdonaldtown to Erskineville passed the NSW parliament in March 1893, just five months after the bodies were discovered. Was this a systemic attempt by the government to cleanse the neighbourhood of a lingering bad reputation, or merely a bureaucratic change?
The real scandal: A secret property play worth 5 per cent
While the timing may raise eyebrows, the theory that Sarah and John Makin sparked the name change almost falls apart when looking at newspaper archives from the era.
A notice in the Evening News reveals a crucial detail: the Macdonaldtown Council had proposed a name change months before the infants’ bodies were located.
And the reason? Pure property economics.
“Changing the name as suggested would increase property value by at least 5 per cent,” the notice explicitly claimed.
Macdonaldtown Map 1886 -1889 (City of Sydney Archives)
Burren St, which became part of Erskineville, was a working class suburb. Picture: City of Sydney Archive
Macdonaldtown was a short walk from King St Newtown, pictured in the 1890s. Credit: City of Sydney archives
City historian at the City of Sydney, Laila Ellmoos, is unequivocal.
“I think it is a long bow that has been drawn over the years,” she told the ABC, referring to the serial killer connection.
So, can the urban legend surrounding Macdonaldtown finally be put to rest?
“I think it is,” Ms Ellmoos confirmed and locals seem to agree with the average property selling well above $1m.
Latest PropTrack data shows todays buyers pay, on average, $1.85m for a house and $1.05m for a unit, while the average weekly rent sits between $900 and $980.
A changing moral compass and modern-day implications
While the Makin case caused uproar in the 1890s, the practice of “baby farming” was not uncommon.
Pregnant, unmarried women often paid to give up their children at the time.
“It’s something to do with the changing moral compass at the time,” Ms Ellmoos told the ABC
“Something changed in society because there was a case similar not long before.”
Ellen Batts went on trial for a series of “baby farm” murders in Woollahra three years prior to the Makin case but received scant coverage.
“It’s more specific to what was happening more broadly at the time and the dialogue about caring for children,” Ms Ellmoos said.
“There was the Child Protection Act not long after and (coverage of) the Makins was the impetus for this.”
Erskineville Road, Erskineville – formerly known as Macdonaldstown.
A general view of the Macdonaldtown Train Station.
Macdonaldtown was officially incorporated as a local government area in 1872 and renamed Erskineville in 1893.
The area was renamed after the local Reverend George’s “Erskine’s villa,” with the clear intention of giving the blue-collar town a “virtuous” name to drive up property prices in the tough, working-class area.
So, while the gruesome crimes of the Makins undoubtedly cast a dark shadow over the area, the true reason Macdonaldtown vanished from maps was a calculated move to boost property values.
For Erskineville homeowners today, this revelation offers a fascinating glimpse into the suburb’s past – a past where a name change wasn’t just about identity, but about the bottom line.
The ghost of Macdonaldtown might not be a serial killer’s curse, but rather the enduring power of property speculation.
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