Westward, Ho! Blue Mountains - towns along the highway

Emu Plains – at the foot of the mountains

Emu Plains is a town 58 km west of Sydney, located on the western bank of the Nepean River and at the foot of the Blue Mountains. As the name suggests, the area was named after the many emus that once lived there. William Cox started building the Great Western Road from here in 1814.

A government convict farm operated at Emu Plains from 1819-32 and the village began as a stopover for travellers. For many years the district was an important pastoral and orchard centre for Sydney.

In 1877 the public school opened and then in 1883 the Main Western Railway Line arrived.

Lapstone

Lapstone is 3km south west of Emu Plains. The area was first referred to as Lapstone Hill in the 1820s. The name Lapstone may be a reference to the many smooth stones found in the area that resemble a cobbler’s lapstone. Land was reserved at Lapstone Hill for the resting of cattle travelling to and from Bathurst. Although the Lapstone Zig Zag (or “little” zig zag) was opened in 1867 a railway station was not built until 1964 and then a public school opened in 1971.

Glenbrook

Glenbrook is 67km west of Sydney between Lapstone and Blaxland. The site was originally known as Watertank after a stop on the original “little” zig zag” railway where the trains would stop to take on water from the Glenbrook Lagoon.

Sir John Jamison, whilst exploring the area around the Nepean and Warragamba Rivers named a tributary Glen Brook (now Glenbrook Creek). About 1870 the name was changed to Wascoe’s Siding (this refers to a railway stopping point of Wascoe, which is located in Blaxland) and then in 1879 to Glenbrook when the railway station opened.

Glenbrook Public School opened in 1892.

Blaxland

Blaxland is a town 6.5km west of Emu Plains, at the junction of the first three roads leading up the eastern escarpment, Cox’s Road, Mitchells Road and Old Bathurst Road. The village was originally known as Wascoe, after John Outrim Wascoe, the publican of the Pilgrim Inn (the first roadside inn to be built in the Blue Mountains in about 1826 by Barnett Levey) which he operated in the 1850s-60s.

The railway arrived in 1867 and in 1914 the name was changed to honour Gregory Blaxland.

A provisional school opened in Blaxland’s Flat in 1885 and in Blaxland’s Ridge in 1892

Lennox Bridge

Lennox Bridge, in Mitchells Pass, is the oldest surviving stone arch bridge on the Australian mainland. The bridge was designed and built by David Lennox in the early 1830s to span a gully in the ascent from Emu Plains on the eastern side of the foothills.

The road and bridge continued to be the main ascent route from 1836 to 1926 when the new highway was constructed. Nowadays the road is one-way down to Emu Plains and is a favourite route for cyclists.

Warrimoo

Warrimoo is a town on the Blue Mountains Range, 7km west north west of Emu Plains. The name may have been taken from the Aboriginal word meaning eagle. Although an earlier railway station did operate, Warrimoo Station opened in 1918 to coincide with the subdivision of the area.

Warrimoo Provisional School opened in 1942 and became Warrimoo South Public School in 1962.

Valley Heights

Valley Heights is a small town located between Warrimoo and Springwood. As early as 1832 Alexander Fraser ran the ‘Valley Inn’. In 1875 the railway station opened as Eagers Platform, named after local landowner, Geoffrey Eager. Eagers Platform became The Valley in 1877 and then Valley Heights in 1880.

Springwood

Springwood is 78km west of Sydney and was named Spring-Wood by Governor Macquarie on his trip to Bathurst in 1815. In the following year a military outpost was established near this site which operated until 1845. It was a popular stopover for travellers, especially during the gold rush in the 1850s.

In 1867 the railway arrived and a station was built in the following year. The station was replaced by a Victorian Gothic style building in 1884. Many wealthy families from Sydney built country retreats in Springwood.

Springwood Public School opened in 1878.

Faulconbridge

Faulconbridge is 2.5km west of Springwood. In 1876 Sir Henry Parkes bought 600 acres for his country retreat and named it Faulconbridge after his mother. A railway station was built for Parkes’ convenience in the following year and the town took its name from

Linden

A small village in the Blue Mountains, it was originally known as Seventeen Mile Hollow, due to its being 17 miles from the Nepean River. The name Linden is taken from the German word for a type of tree. A toll house was built in 1849 but was destroyed when the railway came through in the 1860s.
In 1874 the railway station opened, taking its name from Linden Lodge, a private residence built by businessman William Henderson.

Woodford

Woodford is 90 km west of Sydney. It was originally called Twenty Mile Hollow, or the Bends. The first railway station opened in 1868 and was called Buss’s Platform, after William Buss, a local publican. Sydney businessman Alfred Fairfax bought the inn and converted it into a private residence, which he named Woodford House in 1871. The railway station also changed its name to Woodford in 1871.

Hazelbrook

The town was named after Hazelbrook House, built in 1879 by Edward Higgs. When the railway station opened in 1884 it took its name from Hazelbrook House. There are a number of waterfalls in this area, including the Terrace Falls and the Horseshoe Falls.

Lawson

Lawson is a small town about 11km east of Katoomba. It was previously known as 24 Mile Hollow and Christmas Swamp. The name of the town and the railway station (opened 1867) was changed to Lawson in recognition of explorer, William Lawson, in 1879. A number of waterfalls, including Adelina Falls, are located close by to the town.

Bullaburra

Bullaburra is a small town in the Blue Mountains range and much of the land in this area was originally owned by Sir Henry Parkes. The area was subdivided by Arthur Rickard in the 1920s and it was Rickard who named it Bullaburra, an Aboriginal word (not local) meaning ‘blue sky’ or ‘fine weather’. The railway station was opened in 1925.

Wentworth Falls

Wentworth Falls was the site of William Cox’s Weatherboard Hut store in 1815 and the Weatherboard Inn from 1827. In 1867 the railway station opened as Weatherboard and in 1879 the name was changed to Wentworth Falls in honour of William Charles Wentworth, the explorer. The word Falls was added to distinguish the town from another Wentworth on the NSW/Victorian border (Fox, pp 299-300).

Jamieson Valley

Jamieson Valley was named by Governor Macquarie after physician and landowner, Sir John Jamison. The Valley is about 12 km long and forms part of the Cox’s River canyon system from Katoomba to the Cox’s River. The area is noted for the steep sandstone cliffs and includes the Ruined Castle, Mt Solitary, Kings Tableland and Wentworth Falls.

Leura

The town was named after close by Leura Falls, which itself was named by Frederick Clissold after his Queensland property (Fox, pp 177-178). The Leura Estate subdivision occurred in 1881 and the railway station opened in 1890.

Katoomba

Katoomba is the largest town in the Blue Mountains and is 110km west of Sydney and 39km south-east of Lithgow. The area was known as The Crushers when the railway opened in 1868, due to the nearby quarry. The name was changed in 1877 and is said to derive from a Dharug word kadumba for falling waters. The town developed as a tourist and spa destination with regular trains from Sydney.

Three Sisters

The Three Sisters are three towering rock formations in Katoomba, overlooking the Jamieson Valley. There is some debate as to whether the name comes from an Aboriginal legend or is a European term adopted in the 1880s (See Fox, p.283 for more details).

Medlow Bath

When the railway arrived in 1880 the town was called Brown’s Sidings after Brown’s Sawmill which was located in the town. The name was then changed to Medlow and Bath was added in recognition of Mark Foy’s development of the Hydro Majestic as a hydropath sanatorium in the early 1900s.

Blackheath

Blackheath was named by Governor Macquarie on his return trip from Bathurst in 1816 and is a reference to the dark-coloured heath growing in the area. There was a convict stockade operating from about 1844 to 1849 when it became a mounted police station. The railway station was opened in 1869.

Govetts Leap – Blackheath

Govetts Leap is a lookout over the Grose Valley. It was named after William Govett, assistant Surveyor General who surveyed the area in June 1831. Evans Lookout is an alternative vantage point to view the same valley.

Megalong Valley

Megalong Valley is located west of Katoomba Valley and includes the Six Foot Track, a horse and carriage track cut out in 1884 by William Marshall (Surveyor of Public Parks), a nineteenth century bridle path from Katoomba to Jenolan Caves. The word Megalong is derived from an Aboriginal word thought to mean “valley under the rock”.

Mount Victoria

This area was originally known as Broughton’s Waterhole and One Tree Hill (the highest point in the region), both popular spots for stopovers on the trip to and from Bathurst. In 1849 a toll operated at Broughton’s Water Hole. By the time the railway station opened in 1869 it was decided by Governor Belmore to rename the town Mount Victoria, in honour of the Queen.

Research by

Suzanne Upton, (former) Archivist, Collections