MORUYA

The rich Moruya river flats attracted settlers from the 1820s. They often disembarked from ships anchored in Broulee bay and this shipping activity in the area led to Broulee being gazetted as a town in 1837.

In 1841 a flood opened up the bar at the entrance to Moruya River, enabling shipping (for a period) to proceed upstream, so Moruya village was surveyed in 1850 and gazetted in 1851. The main centre for the district then shifted from Broulee to Moruya.

Gold was discovered in 1851 at Araluen, providing an immediate impetus to the new town.

In the late 1850s a granite quarry was developed on the south bank of the Moruya River and its granite was used in the building of the General Post Office in Sydney.

In 1876 the Moruya or Government Quarry was opened on the north bank of the river. From 1925 to 1932 over 250 stonemasons cut 173,000 blocks of granite from here to clad the pylons of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and for the base of the Cenotaph in Martin Place, Sydney. A town of 70 homes, called Granite Town, was built adjacent to the quarry.

Apart from gold mining and granite quarrying, other important local industries included timber-getting and dairying.

A punt originally crossed the river north of Moruya township, but this was replaced by a bridge in 1876. Replacement bridges were opened in 1900, 1945 and 1966.

Moruya Airport served as an advanced operational base for the airforce in World War II. Moruya is the administrative centre of the Eurobodalla Shire that stretches from north of Batemans Bay to south of Tilba.

(A more comprehensive history of Moruya will supersede the above - hoopefully in the not-too-distant future!)