Bondi Junction's growth into a popular area for living, shopping, and business is thanks to the transport routes built in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Bondi Junction's story began in 1811 when soldiers built South Head Road, now called Oxford Street. By 1856 a tollgate was set up at the corner of Bronte Road and Ebley Street. The area was mostly scrubland, and Bronte Road was described as 'little better than a bush track'. The tollgate was eventually moved near Hough's Windmill to catch people trying to skip paying the toll.

In 1827 Barnett Levey built Waverley House, the first of many mansions to grace the area which then became known as Waverley. By 1854 the Waverley Tea Gardens were established featuring gardens, summerhouses, games and became a favoured place to gather for afternoon teas and social gatherings. The name quickly became shortened to Tea Gardens which became synonymous with the area.

When trams started running to Charing Cross in 1881 and Bondi Beach in 1884, the area changed again. The trams brought more people to Waverley, and a tram stop near the Tea Gardens became the center of what was renamed Bondi Junction.

Early businesses and industries that flourished in the area include:

• Henry Hough's windmill on Mill Hill Road, which ground corn and other cereals
• William Allen's soap candle works off Cowper Street (now Bronte Road)
• Waverley Brewery on Adelaide Street
• John Farrelly's dairy on Cowper Street
• Boot Factory of William Sidaway and Thomas Bardon on Spring Street

In 1979 the Eastern Suburbs Railway opened, making the area even busier. Shopping centers like Bondi Junction Plaza, Eastgate, and Westfield followed, modernising the suburb. You can still see remnants of the old shopfronts from the late 1800s and early 1900s along Oxford Street and Bronte Road.