Lake Macquarie is a city. Lake Macquarie is also a beautiful huge deep saltwater tidal lake just south of the bigger city and port of Newcastle. It has some of the best fishing and surfing beaches in Australia.

Most of Lake Macquarie developed as part of Newcastle's coal industry. It is almost impossible to establish the border of the two cities without a map as it is completely urbanised. If you read the Newcastle History, you will soon see why.

The northern part of the city of Lake Macquarie developed as part of Newcastle's coal mining expansion. It is only due to more recent local government boundaries that areas such as Kahibah, Charlestown, Cardiff, Dudley, Whitebridge, Redhead and West Wallsend and other northern suburbs are now part of Lake Macquarie. Many of these towns north of the lake were of agricultural significance, for example, the areas now called Cardiff and Charlestown boasted large orchards, but were very quickly bought out and settled by mining companies. Big mines had big workforces and many of these mines were producing for decades. The Burwood Colliery at Glenrock Lagoon, near Dudley and Whitebridge operated for 93 years. This involved building large towns to house the workers and local services such as bakeries, butchers, schools and very importantly the hotels.

Hotels were often the homes for single miners, rather than enduring the cold winters in a tent. They were also the washroom of the great unwashed as up until the 1930's, the companies were not required to supply bath houses. They were the place to settle the dust in the throat and the nerves after treacherous and poorly paid work underground. The amount of workers killed or injured in these early pits is huge. There were roof falls and accidents but history tells there were numerous fires and explosions causing the greatest loss of lives. The pub probably saved a lot of marriages and caused a lot of grief to others. The six o'clock swill tried to solve the latter.

Coal mining became the dominant force as it spread further southward from Newcastle, though the seam becomes deeper and more costly to exploit. Many mines have been opened and closed along the eastern side of the lake. The last of the old suburban pits being Lampton B at Redhead closed in 1991.

Redhead has the distinction of being the only mining town in the region never to have had a hotel, despite its isolation and sizable population. Every other main town in the whole region has a local and it is a mystery. Redhead is of special interest to the author as my own grandfather lived and worked in the town for 30 or more years and he was practically a teetotaller all his life. I wonder if the lack of a boozer helped his resolve.

Catherine Hill Bay is the oldest town in Lake Macquarie. It developed solely as a coal mining town. It is a real oddity as the town is spread into 2 sections some kilometres apart. The New Wallsend Coal Co. purchased land, sunk a pit and built a jetty at the southern end of the bay in 1873. The town boomed and was gazetted a village in 1875. The mine only operated until 1877. This is the original section of town, and has one of the areas oldest hotels, The Catherine Hill Bay Hotel now called the Catho Hotel. This pub is well worth a visit. The Wallarah Coal company, a wholly British venture, purchased 1200 acres in 1888 including the old workings. The Middle Camp housing subdivision was near the initial pit head and forms the northern section of the town. The pit is still going though bought by Coal and Allied since bought out by Rio Tinto. It is now on the lakeside of the peninsula south of Nords Wharf.

It's a different story for the lakeside towns of Belmont, Swansea, Toronto and Warners Bay. These lakeside areas were originally settled by farmers and livestock breeders in the 1820's. Most of the lakeside arable land was taken in grants. These were developed into many farms, the lake being the chief transport route to Newcastle. Fishing villages like Swansea also became settled with boat builders and even back in the mid 1800's retirees from the services. Swansea became a port for the lake industries, timber, sugar and vegetables. After the Blue Mountains gold rush there was an influx of Chinese farmers in the Warners Bay and Belmont areas among others who developed market gardens supplying much of Newcastle, some of these operating into the 1920's. Coal mining eventually became the dominant force in these towns in the late nineteenth century.

Toronto and Blackalls Park were agricultural regions due to the fertile lands around Stony Creek. Toronto however, was the original private coal mining area due to the influence of the Rev Threlkeld, who after a failed attempt to establish missions for the local Awabakal aboriginal people in Swansea, Belmont and Toronto, established a large farm at Toronto, and in 1841, formed the Excelsior Mining Co diversifying some of his estate into the first legally built private coal mine in the Hunter Valley, as it's locality was outside the influence of the Australian Agricultural Company. Coal Point is so called because it was the site of this mine. The Toronto Hotel was a grand structure built by the Excelsior Mining Co in 1887 from local stone with the best furnishings of the day. The hotel part owned the tramline to Fassifern (which was converted to rail in 1899), the station being directly below the hotel. This became a big attraction for the wealthy from Sydney seeking a lakeside holiday.

Wangi Wangi was a cattle farm because it was easy to fence off the peninsula. Wangi later became a favourite camping destination for miners from the Coalfields area as the only road to Wangi was from Maitland via Freemans Waterhole. Wangi Power Station was constructed in 1954 and led to further development. Wyee and Dora Creek were timber towns with sawmills and docks to send lumber felled in the Watagans across the lake to Swansea, with its channel to the ocean.

Cooranbong and Freemans Waterhole were farms on the original early trail from Maitland to the Hawkesbury River. This trail passed over the Broken-back (Heaton) Gap and after going though these areas followed the approximate route of the Hue Hue Rd today, through the Mandalong and Dooralong valleys to Wyong Creek, then via Yarramalong and Kulnura to Wisemans Ferry. This was the only land link to Sydney until the construction of the Great North Road. Cooranbong was settled by Seven Day Adventists and is the location of their Sanitarium Health Foods factory.

The railway, which was joined to Sydney in 1887 was the main factor in the growth of the towns of Fassifern, Morriset and Wyee with the timber industry there supplying the sleepers. Fassifern became a coal town also, the Newstan Colliery which has had many names over the years is now owned by the Electricity Commission. Teralba was the site of a large gravel quarry, supplying the railways foundation materials. This quarry still operates as a concrete supplier. There were two hotels was built around this time at Teralba, the Lake Macquarie which closed in 1955 and the Great Northern Hotel which still operates. The town was bypassed by the Five Islands Road in the 1970's.

Leisure was the origin of Speers Point, Warners Bay and Croudace Bay, all being popular picnic areas. Mining came to these areas as well.

The Sulphide (later Pasminco) zinc and lead smelter at Cockle Creek commenced operation in 1886 and closed in 2003. It was built in a remote area as apart from lead, the industries by-products include arsenic and sulphuric acid. The towns of Booloroo and Argenton were built nearby to house workers. The Boolaroo and Argenton Hotels were built at this time. The urban sprawl finally encompassed the smelter and from the 1950's environmental issues became more and more prevalent. There is no doubt pollution in Cockle Creek and the lake was a problem not only because of the smelter but also the sewage treatment works sited there. Since the closure of Pasminco and the construction of the Westlakes Sewerage Scheme which diverts effluent to the ocean the lake has become almost pristine. The commercial fishing industry was closed down a few years ago and fish stocks have increased remarkably as a result making the lake all the more popular for amateur anglers.

Despite the good rail network, road transport was always the major problem for Lake Macquarie and for that matter Newcastle. The Great North Road did not solve it, nor the Putty road nor the old road to Wisemans Ferry. The Pacific Highway was completed in the 1930's from Hornsby to Gosford but this still meant a 3 hour trip on a single laned winding road through mountain gorges to reach Sydney from Newcastle. The opening of the F3 was the biggest factor in the recent development of the west side of Lake Macquarie. The freeway was commenced in 1965 and finally completed to Beresfield in the mid 1990's. This has cut 2 hours off the trip and led to huge increase in housing for commuters. This growth has sealed the regions future.

Lake Macquarie is a holiday paradise and now within easy reach of everyone. It has many great old pubs to accommodate you and a friendly population to welcome you. A visit is well worth it.