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Sunday, January 23, 2011

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





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