Dungog
The town of Dungog is the principal urban settlement in the Dungog Local Government Area. Dungog is located 244km north of Sydney, 79km north of Newcastle and 55km north of Maitland. The Gringai tribe resided in the general Dungog area prior to the first white settlement in the early 1820’s.
The first white men in the area were thought to be searching for lost stock. They were followed by timber getters, attracted by the magnificent cedar trees in the area’s valleys.
Dungog began as a settlement on the banks of the Williams River and during this period of early settlement was originally called Upper Williams. It was situated 14 miles (22.5 kms) upstream from Clarence Town, which was the head of navigation.
The first Europeans in Dungog were cedar getters in the 1820’s, followed by settlers. The site was a day’s march from Clarence Town for convicts. In 1834 Captain Thomas Cook JP was made the first magistrate for the Upper Williams area. He urged the Colonial Secretary that the village be given a distinctive name, and suggested Dungog. The town village was surveyed and planned in 1838. By the end of the 19th century, the agricultural basis of region and of Dungog as an administrative centre was prospering and many of its most prominent buildings in a variety of Victorian architectural styles were built, particularly banks and the homes of wealthier citizens. The town was boosted by the arrival of the Northern railway in 1911, and another period of growth and building in the 1920s when its present streetscape was largely set.
Download the map highlighting the town’s historic and beautiful buildings here.
