Archaeological

The site is located on a south facing slope about 200 metres from a permanent stream. It is likely from its position and aspect to have been an attractive location for occasional camping.

It is however within a domestic residential precinct that has been actively occupied and used for more than 180 years with substantial terracing and excavation having taken place.

Aboriginal Heritage

Aboriginal people have lived in the Blue Mountains for many thousands of years. The region incorporates significant parts of the traditional lands of the Gundungarra and Darug tribal groups.
Aboriginal heritage extends well beyond archaeological sites, rock engraving and rock shelter art. It includes natural landscape features, ceremonial, mythological or religious areas, massacre sites or other places with which Aboriginal people maintain a strong spiritual or historical association.

European History

The first crossing of the Blue Mountains occurred in 1813 and settlement of the region followed slowly after. A railway link was established between Sydney and Mt Victoria in 1868. In 1874 a platform was established in what is now Katoomba.

In 1879 John Britty North opened the Katoomba Coal Mine, and the town grew rapidly, as he also lobbied for a goverment school for the town.

Site History

The site of the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre is also known as the Parke Street (East) site and the Katoomba TAFE (East) site, reflecting its most recent history.

The site itself has a long history in terms of the development of Katoomba as a town and includes the site of “Froma”, Katoomba’s first permanent house (other than the railway gatehouse) built by James Neale around 1867 on his grant of land which now forms the Katoomba Town Centre. Neale built Froma on the high point of his land overlooking bushland. There are reports that the first tracks to scenic lookouts in Katoomba originated from the Froma site. Neale was a prominent local figure and was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1864 -1874. In 1883 he was appointed to the NSW Legislative Council. He continued in this role until his death in 1890.

From 1883 to 1911 Michael Metcalfe, a merchant from Sydney and his family owned Froma, using it as a summer residence and possibly as a guesthouse.

The site was resumed for use as part of a new public school complex in 1912 under the Public Instruction Act of 1912. The house was considered to be in poor condition and was demolished to make way for new school buildings.

The Katoomba Public School occupied the site until 1982 when it moved to new premises. Following this move the site was used by Katoomba TAFE until 1997. Since 1997 the site has remain unoccupied, and following the demolition of the school buildings in 2001 has been used as a car park.