NSWRail & telegraph
Wentworth Falls
Before the waterfall gave it a name, this was The Weatherboard.
1867First mountain railway reaches the Weatherboard
WHAT STARTED IT
William Cox kept a store at the Weatherboard Hut while building the road over the mountains, and from 1827 travellers stopped at the Weatherboard Inn; Charles Darwin stayed there in 1836. In 1867 the first railway into the Blue Mountains ended at Weatherboard Station, fixing a village beside the line.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
The station and village were renamed Wentworth Falls in 1879, in honour of explorer William Charles Wentworth, with ‘Falls’ added to tell it apart from another Wentworth. In 1903 a dam was built here to supply water for steam locomotives, forming today’s lake.
TURNING POINTS
1836Charles Darwin rests his horses at the Weatherboard Inn on the way to Bathurst and walks to see the falls.
1867The railway from Penrith opens to Weatherboard, the first line into the Blue Mountains.
1879The station is renamed Wentworth Falls.
1903Wentworth Falls Dam is built to supply water for steam locomotives.
1915The new School of Arts, designed by architect H. Dennis, opens on 26 June.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A residential town on the Great Western Highway and the railway, with lookouts and walking tracks along the Jamison Valley cliffs. Darwin’s Walk follows the route he took in 1836 from Wilson Park towards the escarpment.