Parish: Woonona
County: Camden
Towradgi is a beachside suburb a short distance north of Wollongong.
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Local communities of Aboriginal people were the original inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of Illawarra Land. Their dialect is a variant of the Dharawal language.
Before European settlement, the Aboriginal people of the region lived in small family groups with complicated social structures and close associations with specific areas.
Suburb boundaries do not reflect the cultural boundaries of the local Aboriginal community.
Traditional Custodians today are descendants of the original inhabitants and have ongoing spiritual and cultural ties to the Land and waterways where their ancestors lived.
According to a map in Henderson's Early Illawarra, Towradgi was also known as "Towroger". A notice appeared in the Illawarra Mercury on 18 August 1856 advertising a dairy farm for sale at Towrodger, "formerly the property of Mr George Organ".
Towradgi is a corruption of the Aboriginal word "Kow-radgi" meaning "guardian of the sacred stones".
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1796 | White men first set foot on Illawarra soil on southern side of Towradgi Point on 26 March 1796 (Advertiser 17/3/1999) |
| 1924 | Murranar Estate subdivided (Illawarra Mercury 28/11/1924) |
| 1953 | School established with two classes operating in temporary premises (Local Cuttings File) |
| 1954 | New Primary School opened (South Coast Times 3/5/1954) |
| 1959-1960 | Baby Health Centre near Towradgi Railway Station to be completed by June 1960 (Illawarra Mercury 27/11/1959) |
| 1964 | Towradgi Rock Pool opened by Mayor Ald Squires (South Coast Times 12/10/1964) |
| 1967 | Dedication of a Commemorative Wall and Drinking Fountain at Towradgi Park (Local Cuttings File) |
| 1975 | Towradgi Park Retirement Village opened (Illawarra Mercury 8/2/1975) |
| 1979 | Official opening of Towradgi Surf Life Saving Club (Local Cuttings File) |
| 1983 | Illawarra Retirement Trust began admitting patients to the Towradgi Park Nursing Home's extension, named the Max Diment Wing (Illawarra Mercury 7/7/1983) |
| 1989 | Towradgi Rock Pool closed indefinitely due to sand build-up (Illawarra Mercury 30/5/1989) |
| 1994 | Blue Divers Bushcare Group formed by local residents (Local Cuttings File) |
| 1997 | Towradgi Surf Lifesaving Club celebrates 50th anniversary on 4 October (Local Cuttings File) |
| 2001 | Towradgi Park renamed Ray Robinson Field (Illawarra Mercury 21/6/2001) |
| 2006 | Towradgi Rock Pool reopened after being closed for more than two months for repairs (Illawarra Mercury 2/12/2006) |
| 2010 | Quality Suites Pioneer Sands hotel and conference centre opened in Carters Lane (Illawarra Mercury 13/7/2010) |
Top image: Towradgi Creek. See image details on our catalogue