A Self-Guided Heritage Tour of Goulburn

The land that Goulburn was settled on was first passed by Hamilton Hume and John Meehan in 1818. Two years later Governor Macquarie declared the countryside fit for settlement under the name 'Goulburn Plains'.

The plans for the township were originally laid out closer to the property of Riversdale but were soon relocated to the current location in 1832-3. This was due to the previous locations' low-lying land being prone to flooding.

After being settled the City benefited from the wool industry, a short-lived nearby gold rush, and the development of the rail system.

On 14th March 1863 Queen Victoria wrote her last royal letters patent and Goulburn was declared the first inland city in Australia. By the 1880s Goulburn was the second biggest city in NSW, behind Sydney. Many of the buildings remaining from this time illustrate that Goulburn was a very wealthy city in its prime.

This tour will give you a brief glance back to some of Goulburn's fascinating history passing some of the most magnificent architecture for the period in town.