NSWFarming
Budgewoi
A dairy grant between the lakes turned into a holiday and power-station town.
1828First land selected on the lakes
WHAT STARTED IT
Budgewoi occupies land between Budgewoi Lake, Lake Munmorah and the ocean. Early grants here were used for cattle and dairying, with Robert Henderson’s farm supplying milk, meat and cheese to Gosford and Sydney.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
By the early 1930s Sydney families were camping here for holidays, and lots on the old Hargraves estate went up for sale. From the late 1960s Munmorah Power Station brought permanent workers: in 1978 more than a fifth of its staff lived in the Budgewoi district.
TURNING POINTS
1828John Slade selects 640 acres fronting Lake Munmorah and Budgewoi Lake.
1856Robert Henderson sells his dairy farm to his friend Edward Hargraves.
1914Part of the Hargraves estate at Budgewoi is subdivided.
1937The Budgewoi Progress Association is formed.
1978Budgewoi becomes the official name, replacing earlier spellings such as Pudgeway.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A quiet, mostly residential town almost surrounded by water, with a shopping area that grew after a supermarket opened in 2005.