NSWPort & river
Gosford
A government town at the head of Brisbane Water became the Central Coast’s capital.
1839Town named Gosford
WHAT STARTED IT
Gosford grew at the northern end of Brisbane Water. In a district of timber-getters, shipbuilders and farmers, the waterways were the main routes for transport and trade until the railway came.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
Named in 1839 after the Earl of Gosford, the town gained a stone courthouse and lock-up in 1848–49 and became a municipality in 1886. The railway arrived in 1887, and the Hawkesbury River bridge linked it to Sydney two years later, bringing the biggest wave of investment and settlement.
TURNING POINTS
1839The settlement on Brisbane Water is named Gosford after the Earl of Gosford.
1849A sandstone courthouse and lock-up, designed by Mortimer Lewis, is completed.
1887Gosford railway station opens on the line from Newcastle; the Hawkesbury River bridge links it to Sydney in 1889.
1960Electric trains reach Gosford, which stays the northern end of the electrified network until 1982.
2016Gosford City and Wyong Shire merge to form Central Coast Council.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
The main commercial and administrative centre of the Central Coast, with the region’s largest public hospital and a waterfront on Brisbane Water. Mann Street, part of the old Pacific Highway, is still the main street.