Newcastle NSW

Newcastle History- the short version

Lieutenant Shortland was the first white man to explore and name the place, and it his original landing at Signal Hill (Fort Scratchley) and Stockton on September 9, 1797, which Newcastle has chosen to mark as the founding of the city. Captain Cook had earlier marked on a map the rocky islet of Nobby's Head at its mouth as he sailed north on May 10, 1770.
Shortland reported on the abundance of coal in the area and in 1799 the first shipment of coal was sent to Bengal, making Newcastle, Australia's first commercial port.
The first settlement of Newcastle was short lived, ending with a mutiny and closing in early 1802, after sinking what is believed to be the first coal mine in the Southern Hemisphere at Colliers Point (now Fort Scratchley).
A new settlement of Newcastle was established in 1804 as a place of secondary punishment for unmanageable convicts and was re-named Newcastle, after England's famous coal port. The new settlement, comprising of convicts and a military guard, arrived at the Hunter River on the 10 March 1804, under the appointment of Superintendent Lieutenant Charles Menzies.
Captain James Wallis (commandant from 1815 to 1818) laid out the streets of Newcastle, built the first church (on the site of the present Christ Church Cathedral), erected the old gaol on the seashore, and began work on the breakwater, which now joins Nobby's to the mainland. The quality of these buildings was poor and only a much-reinforced breakwall survived. In 1816 a public school was built in East Newcastle for the children of soldiers and convicts, making Newcastle East Public School, Australia's oldest school.
The Bogey Hole was built in 1819 when Major James Morisset, the town commandant, ordered a swimming hole for his own personal use. Originally called the Commandant's Baths, it was made by convicts who cut into a tidal rock platform at the bottom of what is now King Edward Park.
Newcastle's time as a penal colony ended in 1823 and the town began to acquire the aspect of a typical Australian pioneer settlement, with a steady flow of free settlers pouring into the area. In 1847 Newcastle was proclaimed a city and named as the centre of a new Anglican Bishopric, meaning the structurally questionable Christ Church became a Cathedral. Construction of a lighthouse on Nobby's Headland was begun in 1856, replacing the original signal mast set up in 1804, and has been guiding ships into Newcastle Harbour since 1858.
1876 saw the construction of Customs House and in 1881 work on Fort Scratchley commenced because of fear of a Russian invasion.
BHP was opened in 1915 and so began the transformation of Newcastle from coal city to steel city. (From local history web site) Over next couple of days I will showcase more landmarks.