Brief Timeline

1789 – William Dawes ventured into the Blue Mountains

1813 – Mountains crossed by Blaxland Lawson & Wentworth

1813 – George Evans surveyed route for road

1814 – William Cox completed first road through to Bathurst
1815 - Governor Macquarie named "Spring In The Wood" on his first trip across mountains

1816 – Military barracks moved to Springwood from Glenbrook

1830 – Fitzgerald’s Valley (present day Valley Heights) area used for resting place

 and grazing stock
Thomas Livingstone Mitchell re-defined Western Road 
1834 – William Lawson the explorer received first land grant of 100acres in

           Springwood

1835 – Quaker James Backhouse stayed at Woolpack Inn at the Valley

1839 – William Lawson obtained a further 640acres

1847 – Thomas Boland purchased old Military Barracks property

1857 – Thomas Boland built Springwood Inn

1867 – Railway link established

1870 – Frank Raymond built Springwood Hotel

1877 – William Rayner first shop owner

1878 – Springwood Public School opened

1879 – Police presence established with Constable Illingworth in charge

             Post Office moved from Springwood Hotel to station

1880s – The name Valley Heights used

1881 – Thomas Boland built Royal Hotel

              Police Station built

1884 – New Railway station built

1888 – Christ Church built, Architect Sir John Sulman

1892 – First Catholic Church built

1895 – Frazer Presbyterian Memorial Church erected

1901 – Duplication of railway line

             Post Office built 

1913 – Steam locomotive depot at from Valley Heights

1915 – Overnight stay of Captain Hitchen’s Coo-ees

1923 – First Methodist Church built

1940s – Significant development in Springwood in the post war years

1947 – The Blue Mountains City Council formed by the amalgamation of Katoomba

             City Council, Blue Mountains Shire Council, Blackheath Municipal Council &

             Blue Mountains County Council

1957 – Electrification of railway

             Devastating bush fires

1968 – Devastating bush fires

1970s – Explosion of urban growth

1977 – Devastating bush fires

1990s – Relatively stable population growth

Ref: Blue Mountains City Council, Community Profile

       Bruce Cameron Long Angle

       The Making of a Mountain Community; A Biographical Dictionary of the Springwood
       District, Springwood Historians

      Springwood Notebook, 1788-1989, Springwood Historical Society