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Wollongong - Timeline
| 1815 | Dr Charles Throsby established first settlement in Illawarra. He brought a herd of cattle down the escarpment and had a hut and cattle yards built behind South Beach, Wollongong where there was a lagoon of fresh water. |
| 1815 | Wollongong Harbour was first used for the shipping of cedar. |
| 1816 | Organised settlement began in Wollongong and land grants were made. |
| 1826 | Earliest known reference to the name 'Wollongong' appears in a report on the cedar industry, written by John Oxley. |
| 1830 | New military barracks constructed near Wollongong Harbour. |
| 1833 | A school was established at Wollongong. |
| 1834 | Surveyor-General arrived from Sydney to lay out a plan for a township on property owned by Charles Throsby Smith. This township, which was named Wollongong, was bounded by Crown, Keira and Harbour Streets. |
| 1834 | Town of Wollongong gazetted on 26 November 1834 |
| 1834 | Sophia Jane is the first steamship to visit Wollongong. |
| 1835 | Wollongong's first Court House was erected by George Brown. |
| 1837 | Work began on the construction of Wollongong Harbour. A stockade was erected on Flagstaff Point to house about 300 convicts employed on the harbour works. |
| 1839 | The Illawarra Steam Packet Company was formed. The steamer Maitland provided the first regular steamboat service between Wollongong and Sydney. |
| 1839 | National School established at Wollongong. |
| 1839 | Wollongong Presbyterian church erected at the corner of Church and Crown Streets. |
| 1841 | The population of Wollongong was 841 |
| 1843 | The road from Wollongong to Sydney via George's River was commenced. |
| 1844 | Construction of Wollongong Harbour completed. |
| 1849 | First coal shipped from Wollongong Harbour. |
| 1849 | St Francis Xavier's Roman Catholic church at Wollongong consecrated. |
| 1851 | Wollongong National School established |
| 1854 | Paddle steam Illawarra commenced regular freight and passenger trade between Wollongong and Sydney. |
| 1855 | Wollongong's first newspaper, the Illawarra Mercury, was published. |
| 1857 | Wollongong Congregational church built. |
| 1858 | Court House near Wollongong Harbour was opened. |
| 1859 | Wollongong Municipality was proclaimed on 22 February. |
| 1859 | St Michael's Anglican church consecrated. |
| 1859 | Wollongong Gaol completed on a site near Wollongong Harbour, adjacent to the old Court House. |
| 1861 | Horsedrawn tramway from Mt Keira to Wollongong Harbour was completed. |
| 1861 | Work commenced to extend Wollongong Harbour. |
| 1862 | Telegraph line opened between Wollongong and Bellambi. |
| 1864 | Albert Memorial Hospital opened, (closed 1907). |
| 1865 | First gas supply in Wollongong provided from a plant in Corrimal Street. |
| 1868 | Extensions to Wollongong Harbour were opened by Lady Belmore and named Belmore Basin. |
| 1868 | Horse bus service established between Bulli and Wollongong by A McIntyre. |
| 1871 | Breakwater lighthouse at Wollongong Harbour completed. |
| 1873 | Sisters of the Good Samaritan arrived in Wollongong establishing the St Mary Star of the Sea College and St Francis Xavier’s School. |
| 1880 | Steam locomotives introduced to haul coal from the foot of the incline at Mt Keira mine to Wollongong Harbour. |
| 1881-82 | Formation of the Wollongong Gas Company, and erection of new gas works in Charlotte Street. |
| 1883 | Gas street lighting installed in Wollongong. |
| 1884 | Wollongong Agricultural and Horticultural Society pavilion constructed. |
| 1885 | New Court House erected in Market Street. |
| 1885 | Wollongong Public School opened |
| 1886 | First Wollongong Town Hall erected on old National School site. |
| 1887 | Railway line between Sydney and Wollongong was completed. Railway extended south from Wollongong to Kiama. |
| 1887 | First Town Hall opened. |
| 1892 | Wollongong Trade School (later to become a Technical College) was opened. |
| 1901 | Population of Wollongong now 17,182 with 3,031 dwellings. |
| 1902 | Wollongong provided with reticulated water supply from Cordeaux reservoir. |
| 1904 | A telephone system was established in Wollongong. |
| 1908 | Wollongong District Hospital established on Garden Hill. |
| 1908 | North Wollongong Surf Bathing and Life Saving Club established. |
| 1915 | Wollongong City Surf Life Saving Club established. |
| 1916 | Wollongong High School opened in Gipps Street. |
| 1916 | Christian Brothers College opened. |
| 1926 | Continental baths opened. |
| 1927 | Wollongong West Public School established. |
| 1931 | Wollongong's first radio station, 2WL, commenced broadcasting. |
| 1937 | Wollongong lighthouse built on Flagstaff point near disused fortifications. |
| 1942 | Wollongong was proclaimed a City in NSW Government Gazette 125 on 11 September 1942. |
| 1947 | City of Greater Wollongong was formed by the amalgamation of the City of Wollongong, the Shires of Bulli and Central Illawarra and the Municipality of North Illawarra under the Local Government Act, 1919 in the NSW Government Gazette 104 of 12 September 1947. |
| 1952 | Mount St Thomas Public School established. |
| 1954 | Population of Wollongong was 90,852. |
| 1955 | Sydney Church of England Grammar School for Girls (SCEGGS) at Glenifer Brae opened. |
| 1956 | New Wollongong City Council Chambers opened. |
| 1956 | Wollongong High School relocated to Lysaght Street, Fairy Meadow |
| 1958 | Smith’s Hill Girls’High School opened. |
| 1959 | The Illawarra Grammar School (TIGS) opened as a boys school in West Wollongong, moving to its current site in Mangerton in 1960. (TIGS amalgamated with SCEGGS in 1975 and became co-educational.) |
| 1959 | Lindsay Park Public School opened in West Wollongong. |
| 1960 | Keira Boys’ High School officially opened at Lysaght Street, Fairy Meadow. (The school was previously known as Wollongong Junior Secondary Technical School) |
| 1961 | Wollongong University College established. |
| 1962 | Edmund Rice College opened in West Wollongong. Initially was the senior school of the Christian Brothers College. |
| 1963 | Wollongong Teachers College established. |
| 1965 | New Town Halll opened, has since been listed as an item of heritage significance. |
| 1970 | A Lord Mayoralty was conferred on the City on the eve of the visit of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on 10 April 1970. Alderman Ford became the first Lord Mayor. |
| 1970 | The City of Greater Wollongong because City of Wollongong - gazetted on 30 October 1970. |
| 1974 | SCEGGS closed, merged with TIGS as it became co-ed in 1975. |
| 1975 | Wollongong University College becomes the University of Wollongong under its own Council. |
| 1975 | “Crown Central’ shopping centre opens. |
| 1975 | Christian Brothers College closed. |
| 1979 | Wollongong City Gallery established |
| 1985 | Smith’s Hill Girls’ High School becomes co-educational i.e. Smith’s Hill High School |
| 1985 | Keira Boys’ High School becomes co-educational i.e. Keira High School |
| 1986 | Crown Gateway Shopping Centre opened. |
| 1986 | Crown Streeet Mall opened. |
| 1988 | New Council Administration building, Library and Performing Arts Centre completed. |
| 1989 | Smith’s Hill High Schools first year as a ‘selective’ high school. |
| 1990 | Keira High becomes Keira Technology High School. |
| 1993 | Wollongong High School becomes Wollongong High School of the Performing Arts |
| 1998 | Opening of the new $20M, 6,000 seat Wollongong Entertainment Centre. |
| 1999 | University of Wollongong named University of the Year. |
| 2001 | Population of Wollongong 181,612 |
| 2004 | Wollongong City Surf Life Saving Club's new premises opens on the corner of Marine and Endeavour Drives. |
| 2005 | Qantas establishes a daily air service from Wollongong to Melbourne, from Albion Park Airport. |
| 2006 | University of Wollongong's Graduate Medical School has it's first stage accreditation approved by the Australian Medical Council. The graduate medical school will take 80 students. |
| 2008 | Centenary of surf-lifesaving in Wollongong is celebrated, including the unveiling of a bronze statue of a 1908 lifesaver at North Beach. |
| 2008 | New South Wales government sacks Wollongong City Council due to corruption within council and appoints administrators. |
Last Modified: 28/07/2009
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Local History Librarian
Phone:
4227 7418
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Fax:
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Level 1, 41 Burelli Street, Wollongong
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Locked Bag 8821, Wollongong, NSW 2500