NSWPort & river
Penrith
The last stop before the Nepean and the mountains.
1815Government depot built near the river ford
WHAT STARTED IT
William Cox’s road across the Blue Mountains, built in 1814–15, began at Emu Ford on the Nepean River, and in 1815 he built a government depot for provisions and a guard house on the new road near the ford. By April 1817 a courthouse was operating at Penrith, and the town grew up around it along the Great Western Road.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
Travellers relied on a punt until toll bridges were built, but floods destroyed them in 1857 and 1860. The railway arrived in 1863, and John Whitton’s Victoria Bridge carried trains and road traffic across the river from 1867.
TURNING POINTS
1815William Cox builds a government depot and guard house on the new western road near Emu Ford.
1817A courthouse is operating at Penrith by April.
1856A timber toll bridge opens over the Nepean on New Year’s Day; a flood sweeps it away in 1857.
1863The railway is extended to Penrith.
1867Victoria Bridge opens, carrying rail and road over the river.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
The administrative centre of the City of Penrith and one of the major commercial centres of outer western Sydney. Victoria Bridge still carries the Great Western Highway over the Nepean.