Editing Gosford (section)

==History==
[[File:SLNSW 796353 Looking south Mann St Gosford.jpg|thumb|Gosford, prior to 1927|left]]
Until [[History of Australia (1788–1850)|white settlement]], the area around Gosford was inhabited by the [[Guringai]] peoples, who were principally coastal-dwellers,<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.centralcoastaustralia.com.au/AreaInfo/towns_Gosford.asp| title = Gosford – Central Coast}}</ref> and the [[Darkinjung people]] that inhabited the [[hinterland]].
Along with the other land around the Hawkesbury River estuary, the [[Brisbane Water]] district was explored during the [[History of Sydney|early stages]] of the settlement of [[New South Wales]].
[[File:Gosford Henry Kendall Cottage 001.JPG|thumb|The [[Henry Kendall (poet)|Henry Kendall]] Cottage and Historical Museum at West Gosford|left]]
Gosford itself was explored by [[Governor of New South Wales|State Governor]] [[Arthur Phillip]] between 1788 and 1789.<ref>{{cite book |title=Coasting : a year by the bay |date=March 2012 |publisher=Sceptre |isbn=9780733610189 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D5Dm8jnzfpEC&q=Gosford+was+explored+by+Governor+Phillip+between+1788+and+1789&pg=PT51 |access-date=23 March 2020}}</ref> The area was difficult to access and settlement began around 1823. By the late 19th century the agriculture in the region was diversifying, with market gardens and citrus orchards occupying the rich soil left after the timber harvest. As late as 1850, the road between Hawkesbury (near Pittwater) and Brisbane Water was a cart wheel track.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.gosford-p.schools.nsw.edu.au/about/gosfordhistory.htm |title = History of Gosford |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210180914/http://www.gosford-p.schools.nsw.edu.au/about/gosfordhistory.htm |archive-date=10 December 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Typical of early Colonial settlement, convicts lived and worked in the Gosford area. In 1825, Gosford's population reached 100, of whom 50% were convicts.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}

East Gosford was the first centre of settlement. Gosford was named in 1839 after [[Archibald Acheson, 2nd Earl of Gosford]] – a friend of the then Governor of New South Wales [[George Gipps]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gosford.nsw.gov.au/library/local_history/Suburbs/documents/history.html |title=Some Significant events in Gosford History |access-date=29 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140624025651/http://www.gosford.nsw.gov.au/library/local_history/Suburbs/documents/history.html/ |archive-date=24 June 2014}}</ref> Acheson's title derives its name from [[Gosford Castle|Gosford]], a [[townland]] (sub-division) of [[Markethill]] in [[County Armagh]] in [[Northern Ireland]].

In 1887, the [[Main Northern railway line]] to Sydney was completed, requiring a bridge over the Hawkesbury River and a [[Woy Woy Tunnel|tunnel]] through the sandstone ridge west of [[Woy Woy]]. The introduction of this transport link and then the [[Pacific Highway, Australia|Pacific Highway]] in 1930 accelerated the development of the region. Electification of the line reached Gosford on 23 January 1960.

Gosford became a town in 1885 and was declared a municipality in 1886.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.centralcoastaustralia.com.au/AreaInfo/towns_Gosford.asp |title=Gosford – Central Coast Australia |publisher=Centralcoastaustralia.com.au |access-date=24 April 2012}}</ref> It was then declared a Shire in 1947, and a City on 1 January 1980. 
[[File:Rumbalara Reserve - panoramio (6).jpg|thumb|Rumbalara Reserve Gosford]]

Mann Street, the spine of the Gosford CBD has been the subject of much debate, with urban planners having ambitions to make Gosford a small smart regional city{{citation needed|date=April 2024}} with various plans for a performing arts center, greater choice in cafes and restaurants, new library, high speed rail linkage to Sydney and Newcastle, better pedestrian access from the Gosford Hospital, education and research precinct over the railway lines to Mann Street and a new Central Coast University promised at State and Federal elections.