Port Kembla - Timeline
| 1770 | Red Point named by Captain James Cook |
| 1796 | Bass and Flinders land near Red Point |
| 1817 | Governor Macquarie's grants 2,200 acres to David Allan. Names property 'Illawarra Farm' - Steel Works now on this site. |
| 1826 | Captain Bishop,1st Commandant, Civil & Military of Illawarra (Five Islands) appointed, quartered at Red Point, on Allan's grant |
| 1827 | Illawarra Farm sold to Richard Jones |
| 1828 | Richard Jones sells 'Illawarra Farm' to William Charles Wentworth - renames it "Five Islands Estate" |
| 1829 | Headquarters of military detachment removed from 'Red Point' to Wollongong, accommodated in tents. |
| 1887 | Southern Coal Co. opens jetty at Port Kembla to ship coal from its mine at Mount Kembla |
| 1890 | Steelworks Hotel built (Great Eastern Hotel) |
| 1890 | Dept. Public Instruction received application for est. of public school at Port Kembla - Provisional School established - 29 children. |
| 1890 | Construction of 48 foot diameter gun pit commenced on Flagstaff Point. 6 inch breech loading pneumatic disappearing gun mounted |
| 1890 | Mount Lyell Co erects Coke Works |
| 1892 | Red Point becomes known as Port Kembla |
| 1895 | Decision to develop Port Kembla as the deep water port for southern coalfields, rather than smaller Wollongong Harbour |
| 1898 | Port Kembla Harbour Act passes - allows 2 breakwaters to be built to protect shipping |
| 1899 | Mt. Lyell Co. establishes coke ovens alongside Mount Kembla Co's jetty - operated until 1925 |
| 1900 | Bridge across entrance to Tom Thumb lagoon opened - provides easier access Wollongong - Port Kembla |
| 1900/01 | Work commences on Port Kembla's eastern breakwater |
| 1901 | Port Kembla Provisional School (part-time) becomes a Public School (full-time) - 50 pupils |
| 1902 | Wollongong and Port Kembla provided with reticulated water supply from Cordeaux Reservoir, built by W'Gong Municipal Council |
| 1906 | Reid's Hill quarry opens |
| 1908 | Work commences on Port Kembla northern breakwater |
| 1908 | G. & C. Hoskins, steelmakers of Lithgow, acquire land at Port Kembla |
| 1909 | Land resumed at Hill 60 by Commonwealth Government |
| 1909 | E.R.&S works opens at Port Kembla. Works able to refine blister copper, previously sent to U.S.A. |
| 1909 | Public Works Dept resumes nearly 500 acres for harbour works at Port Kembla |
| 1909 | No. 4 Jetty completed by Public Works Dept. to handle materials for E.R.&S. |
| 1910 | Port Kembla Ambulance service established |
| 1910 | Port Kembla Surf Club est. - 100 members |
| 1910 | Coke works, Port Kembla, built for Mt. Lyell Co. incorporated a coal washing plant |
| 1911 | Guinery's Hotel Port Kembla built |
| 1911 | Methodist Church, Wentworth Street, Port Kembla established |
| 1911 | St. Steven's Church of England established in Military Road |
| 1912 | Police Station opened. Constable Somerville first policeman at Port Kembla |
| 1916 | Freight train runs; New Port Kembla line opens; Port Kembla station proposed |
| 1917 | Port Kembla Hotel opened |
| 1917 | Port Kembla Public School opened on 30 June 1917 |
| 1918 | Metal Manufactures Ltd commences operations at Port Kembla |
| 1918 | Foundation stone laid for St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church |
| 1920 | Passenger train service at Port Kembla begins |
| 1921 | Australian Fertilizers Ltd commences operations at Port Kembla |
| 1927 | License granted for Commercial Hotel |
| 1927 | Construction of Unanderra-Moss Vale railway commences |
| 1928 | No. 1 blast furnace at Steel works, Port Kembla goes into production |
| 1931 | A.I.S. 1st open hearth furnace operational, together with 6 soaking pits, bloom mill, rail and structural mill |
| 1932 | Unanderra - Moss Vale railway opens |
| 1935 | AIS merges with BHP |
| 1936 | Lysaghts Works Pty Ltd commences production |
| 1938 | Commonwealth Rolling Mills Pty Ltd commences production |
| 1940 | St Andrews Presbyterian Church opened 26 October 1940 |
| 1948 | Port Kembla Public Library opens in former Presbyterian Church |
| 1960's | Port Kembla to Wollongong Road closed to allow for construction of Port Kembla's Inner Harbour |
| 1962 | New Public Library opens, cnr. Wentworth and Church Streets, Port Kembla |
Last Modified: 31/10/2008
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Local History Librarian
Phone:
4227 7418
Email:
Fax:
4227 7553
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Level 1, 41 Burelli Street, Wollongong
Mail:
Locked Bag 8821, Wollongong, NSW 2500