History of Bowral

Bowral was first discovered by white people in 1789 by a man called John Wilson of the European settlement. Before that, it was part of the land that belonged to the Tharawal Aboriginal Tribe, though they rarely settle there because of its cooler temperature. About 30 years later, the land that came to be called Bowral was given to a man named John Oxley who developed it into a town.

By the middle of the 19th century, Bowral was beginning to grow quickly. By 1863 and by the end of the century, it had a church and a school, and by the end of the century it had everything from a blacksmith to a newsagency to a bakery and a post office and a train station. This caused Bowral to have a huge population increase.

During the early 20th century, Bowral really grew as a town. In 1906, Bowral's population increased once again with the creation of two new schools. In the 1920s, Bowral finally had a hospital built and was given access to electricity and in 1935 it developed a town sewerage system.

As a tribute to the man who had developed the town of Bowral - John Oxley - there was a mall built in the 1980s called Oxley Mall. Today the mall still stands and Bowral is a large country town with a population of 11,500.

Bowral Train Station