Bathurst - the city and surrounds
The modern city of Bathurst is situated on a sloping rise between river and mountain.
Long before white settlement the area was home to the Wiradjuri people. Bathurst marks the eastern end of Wiradjuri country which includes Wagga Wagga, Dubbo and Condobolin. The Macquarie River, known to the indigenous population as Wambool, was a valuable source of water and food.
White settlement began in 1815 when Bathurst was proclaimed by Governor Lachlan Macquarie, making the site Australia's oldest inland settlement. Throughout the nineteenth century the settlement developed from a military outpost to an agricultural and trading centre. The nearby discovery of gold in 1851 led to a rapid transformation of the town as Bathurst became the hub of the western goldfields. For many years the headquarters of the Cobb and Co coach company was in Bathurst.
By the end of the gold rushes Bathurst was a well established town and the arrival of rail in the latter part of the century continued its tradition as an important commercial centre.
Where gold had dominated Bathurst's development in the nineteenth century, the twentieth century saw the motor car and education develop as defining industries. Cars were first raced on a dirt track on the now world-famous Mt Panorama in 1938. Off circuit, the Bathurst Teachers' College, which later became Mitchell College of Advanced Education and is now Charles Sturt University (Bathurst), was joined by a growing number of schools and TAFE to earn the city a reputation as a centre of education.
Today Bathurst has a growing population of around 37,000 in a broad economy with a range of industry and retail companies. There are a variety of restaurants and cafes and the city's vibrant past has left a legacy of tourist attractions.
For more details on attractions in and around Bathurst please visit:
http://www.bathurstregion.com.au/visitors/default.asp?id=526.