New South Wales second largest city and today a thriving metropolis with a robust arts community producing some of Australia's finest musicians, artists and performers. A city founded on the hard labour of convicts has grown to house a population in excess of 250,000 people.

Only 156 km north of Sydney this fine Victorian city with its many historical buildings sits abreast of the Hunter River (Maiyarn). There are many beaches nearby, lookouts, and national parks. The original inhabitants of the area are the Awabakal and Worimi tribes, one of their main camps was located where Newcastle now stands.

Discovered by a Lt Shortland in 1797 whilst chasing convicts, the area became known as Coal River due to the abundance of the coal on the river banks. In 1801 a convict camp was setup to cut the local cedar and to mine the abundant coal deposits.
 

Railways arrived not long after and the town rapidly developed becoming a major coal producing region, railway terminus and shipping port for the entire Hunter region named after NSW Governor Hunter.

In 1915 BHP (The Big Australian) opened a steel smelter in the city. Associated industries soon sprung up and the city became know as the Steel City as its employment base was dependant on the company for its lifeblood. In 1997 BHP started to shut down its businesses in the city due to more efficient steel production facilities elsewhere. Although steel has gone from this wonderful city the area has turned to the arts, tourism and other industries to provide the lifeblood to this city.

Suburbs of interest include the following Stockton, Carrington, Cardiff, Swansea, Charlestown, Minmi, New Lambton, Wallsend, Hamilton, Adamstown, Abermain, Gateshead, Merewether and Waratah. Some of these villages were named after coal producing areas in Scotland, Wales and Northern England.

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