NSWPort & river
Ballina
Cedar logs and river shipping built a coastal town.
1842Cedar settlement forms · Richmond River port
WHAT STARTED IT
Ballina began when cedar cutters and their families reached the Richmond River in 1842. Huts, sawpits and stacked timber formed a settlement near the river mouth, where vessels could carry cedar and later farm produce.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
A sawmill operated by 1853, and Ballina became the port for inland Casino and Lismore. Sugar transformed the river district in the later nineteenth century. A breakwater completed in 1908 reduced the danger of the shifting entrance after scores of shipwrecks.
TURNING POINTS
1842Cedar-cutting families establish a settlement.
1853First sawmill operates.
1908Richmond River breakwater completed.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A Northern Rivers service and holiday town, with fishing, beaches and the Richmond River still central to its character.