History of Hornsby and local area
The Shire of Hornsby is the second largest Local Government area in the Sydney region, at 510 square kilometres in area. The Shire, located to the north of Sydney, encompasses land from Epping north to Wisemans Ferry and Brooklyn. Geologically, the Shire is located on the Hornsby Plateau which rises from the south to its highest point at Cowan. The Plateau is dissected with steep gullies and has a number of drowned valleys, for example Berowra and Cowan Creeks. The area is dominated by Hawkesbury Sandstone which forms the steep valleys. Along the ridge tops, shales from the Wianamatta Group often cover the sandstone.
The lands within the present Hornsby Shire were not occupied in the early days of settlement. More accessible lands along the Parramatta and Hawkesbury Rivers were the preferred settlement areas. Settlement in the Shire did not occur until the early nineteenth century, approximately twenty years after the arrival of the first fleet.
In 1825, Heneage Finch surveyed land from Castle Hill to Wisemans Ferry along the ridge to enable a road to be constructed, connecting Sydney with the Hunter Valley. The road was a continuation of Old Northern Road which had been constructed in 1817 from the Government Farm in Castle Hill to the present township of Galston. The new road was named the Great North Road and replaced the old Putty Road which linked Windsor, Putty and Bulga to the Hunter River which is located to the west of Hornsby Shire. Today the road is still used and is becoming a historical and tourist attraction.
The town of Hornsby, from which the Shire gets its name, was named after police Constable Horne. In 1838, police Constables Thorn and Horne were rewarded with grants of land for the capture of a bushranger John MacMamara who had stolen a Parramatta dignitary's watch. Constable Thorn's land later became known as the suburb of Thornleigh whilst a village sprang up on Constable Horn's land which until the 1890's was known as the village of Hornsby. It was here that the first railway junction was built in 1893. There was considerable confusion for a number of years as the railway station was named Hornsby Junction and there was the village of Hornsby to the south. Eventually the village was renamed Normanhurst and the railway station became Hornsby. Because the main northern railway line and the north shore line joined at Hornsby, it developed as a railway town.
Hornsby Shire was incorporated in March, 1906. Early development within the Shire followed the railway lines and ridge tops. The introduction and eventual dominance of the motor car allowed urban growth in areas not serviced by the railway. Since the end of the Second World War there has been a period of rapid growth within the Shire population growing from 30,500 in June 1945 to an estimated 140000 in June 1998.