NSWPlanned settlement
Bathurst
A foothold beyond the Blue Mountains.
1815Town site proclaimed
WHAT STARTED IT
Bathurst was established as a government centre for expansion into the grazing country west of the Blue Mountains. The road built under William Cox made the plains accessible from Sydney, and Governor Macquarie selected a town site beside the Macquarie River.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
For its early decades Bathurst served pastoral settlement and inland exploration. The discovery of gold nearby in 1851 gave the district a second wave of growth. Its streets retain substantial public buildings from the years when it was a major inland administrative centre.
TURNING POINTS
1815Macquarie proclaims the town site.
1851Gold discoveries near Bathurst transform the district.
1989The local Mitchell College of Advanced Education became part of the newly created Charles Sturt University.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A regional centre for education, health, agriculture and visitors. Mount Panorama adds a motor-racing identity to a city whose original purpose was to open up the inland.