SuburbDuralTypeSuburbDetailsThe name Dural was first recorded by surveyor Meehan when marking the first land grants in the district in 1817. A popular version of the origin of the name claimed it derived from ‘Dooral Dooral’, an Aboriginal name thought to mean ‘hollow tree on fire at the bottom and smoking at the top’. Dural was once covered by a dense tall forest and was inhabited by the Darug people. The fertile soil of the ridge tops in the area is still one of its most alluring characteristics, expressed through the suburb’s many ornamental gardens, beautiful trees and rural charm.
When Governor King declared the 34,539 acres (about 14,000 hectares) from the convict farm at Castle Hill and to the north as Crown Land, timber was cut from the forest and used to service the growing needs of Sydney. The first land grants were given to 30 settlers, including 600 acres to George Hall in 1819. Other settlers followed and the rich soil of the ridge tops, derived from the layer of Wianamatta shale, proved ideal for growing crops and later citrus. The underlying sandstone in the valleys produces less desirable soils.
In 1825 a route was chosen to connect the Castle Hill region to Maitland and Singleton, at that time called Patrick’s Plains. It was to go through Dural and cross the Hawkesbury River at Portland Head, now Wisemans Ferry. ‘The Great North Road’ became one of the major road engineering feats of the time.
In 1831 George Best established the Half-Way Inn at Middle Dural on the Great North Road. Other pioneers of this time included the Fagan, Waddell, Moulds, Hunt and Roughley families and many of their descendents still live in the region today.
By 1870 there were dozens of citrus orchards, which drew a large number of workers to the area. As the population increased, schools were built, localities developed and the original names of some of the settlements began to change. Upper Dural became Glenorie in 1887; North Colah became Galston in 1886; Upper Galston or Galston Heights became Arcadia in 1894 and Little Dural became Kenthurst in 1886. Middle Dural, however, retained its name, even though it was no longer the mid-point between Dural and Upper Dural.
In the 1890s, Dural and the Hills district was the chief supplier of citrus fruit for most of Australia. Poultry and vegetable farms also flourished. New Line Road, surveyed in 1829, remained a track until it was sealed in the 1960’s. When the shires of Baulkham Hills and Hornsby were established in 1906, Old Northern Road became the boundary line, which meant that Dural fell into both shires.CreatorDural & District Historical Society
