Leura, New South Wales

Leura is a suburb in the City of Blue Mountains local government area that is located west of the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the series of small towns stretched along the Main Western railway line and Great Western Highway that bisects the Blue Mountains National Park. Leura is situated adjacent to Katoomba, the largest centre in the upper mountains, and the two towns merge along Leura's western edge.HistoryThe original inhabitants of the area were the Dharug people. Archaeological evidence at Lyrebird Dell in South Leura suggests that Aboriginal occupation of the region may date back more than 12,000 years.The first Europeans to enter the area, in 1813, was the expidition of Gregory Blaxland, William Lawson and William Charles Wentworth. They were followed by the expedition of George Evans in November 1813 and the road-building party of William Cox in the following year.When the western railway line was constructed across the Blue Mountains in 1867–68, a gatehouse (No 9) was erected where the line crossed the Western Road near the present Sorensen Bridge. The gatekeepers were the first permanent European residents of the area, Another early presence occurred following the discovery of coal in the Jamison Valley below the present Leura golf course in the early 1880s, which led to the establishment of a colliery.The earliest appearance of the name Leura was on a plan of subdivision, dated January–March 1881, for land south of the railway line belonging to Frederick Clissold. On his plan Clissold named a distinctive waterfall Leura Falls. Many theories have been advanced as to the origins of the name of Leura, but the debate has by no means been settled. When the land was offered for sale later in 1881 as the Leura Estate, however, the name was well on its way to general acceptance.