Westward, Ho! The Mid-Blue Mountains

Linden | Woodford | Hazelbrook | Lawson | Bullaburra

Linden

A small village in the Blue Mountains, it was originally known as Seventeen Mile Hollow, due to its being 17 miles from the Nepean River. The name Linden is taken from the German word for a type of tree. A toll house was built in 1849 but was destroyed when the railway came through in the 1860s.
In 1874 the railway station opened, taking its name from Linden Lodge, a private residence built by businessman William Henderson.

Woodford

Woodford is 90 km west of Sydney. It was originally called Twenty Mile Hollow, or the Bends. The first railway station opened in 1868 and was called Buss’s Platform, after William Buss, a local publican. Sydney businessman Alfred Fairfax bought the inn and converted it into a private residence, which he named Woodford House in 1871. The railway station also changed its name to Woodford in 1871.
Woodford Railway Station, c1902. Digital ID 17420_a014_a014000762

Hazelbrook

The town was named after Hazelbrook House, built in 1879 by Edward Higgs. When the railway station opened in 1884 it took its name from Hazelbrook House. There are a number of waterfalls in this area, including the Terrace Falls and the Horseshoe Falls.
Hazelbrook Railway Station, c1915. Digital ID 17420_a014_a014000761

Lawson

Lawson is a small town about 11km east of Katoomba. It was previously known as 24 Mile Hollow and Christmas Swamp. The name of the town and the railway station (opened 1867) was changed to Lawson in recognition of explorer, William Lawson, in 1879. A number of waterfalls, including Adelina Falls, are located close by to the town.
Frederica Falls, Lawson, n.d. Digital ID 12932-a012-a012X2448000080 Lawson Railway Station, c1910. Digital ID 17420_a014_a014000736
Sale of Crown Lands at Lawson, January 1888. NRS 9149 [10/217]

Bullaburra

Bullaburra is a small town in the Blue Mountains range and much of the land in this area was originally owned by Sir Henry Parkes. The area was subdivided by Arthur Rickard in the 1920s and it was Rickard who named it Bullaburra, an Aboriginal word (not local) meaning ‘blue sky’ or ‘fine weather’. The railway station was opened in 1925.

References

NRS 16410 Blue Mountains Shire brochure

Brian Fox, Blue Mountains Geographical Dictionary, Brian Fox, 2006

Geographic Names Board of NSW: http://www.gnb.nsw.gov.au/name_search

Brian and Barbara Kennedy, Sydney and Suburbs: A history and description, Reed Publishing, 1982

John Low, Pictorial Memories Blue Mountains, Kingsclear, 1991

Research by

Suzanne Upton, Archivist Public Access