The Awabakal and Worimi peoples are recognised and acknowledged as traditional custodians of the land and waters of the Newcastle area. The earliest Aboriginal reference to the naming of Newcastle is Muloobinba meaning Mu-lu-bin (edible Mulubin sea fern) -ba (place of).
Following European settlement, Newcastle became a penal station, a coal town, a steel city. It has a working port, and is steeped in a long heritage of labour and trade unionism.
Today, it is NSW's second largest city and the seventh largest city in Australia.
Newcastle was named after the English city of Newcastle.
Discovered in 1797, Newcastle is the site of the second European settlement in Australia. A city rich in history, a visit to Newcastle provides countless opportunities to uncover Australia's convict past. Take a dip in the Bogey Hole, which was cut into ocean rocks by convict labour in 1819. You will realise the convicts amazing achievement when you see the waves crashing into the pool.
Newcastle is a river port with a main channel depth of 15.2 metres. The main export is coal and the port is the largest coal port in the World. The majority of the coal is railed to the port from extensive Hunter Valley coalfields.
At 10.27am on Thursday 28th December 1989 a moderate earthquake registering 5.6 on the Richter Scale devastated Newcastle and killed 13 people. The tremor was the first in Australian history known to claim human lives. The extensive damage to buildings and other structures resulted from an underlying thin layer of alluvium allowing the shaking to cause greater damage than that expected for a relatively small magnitude earthquake. The epicentre was located near Boolaroo, a Lake Macquarie suburb 15km from the city centre.
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