Hazelbrook

Postcode: 2779

Hazelbrook is a village in New South Wales, Australia (Elevation: 674 metres, Pop.: 4409 (2001). It is located 93 kilometres west of Sydney and approximately 17 kilometres east of Katoomba in the Blue Mountains on the Great Western Highway. The town was named after Hazelbrook House, built in the 1870s by Edward Higgs. The name Hazelbrook was adopted in 1884 when the railway station was opened opposite the home. Hazelbrook House no longer exists but Selwood House is a heritage-listed building in the nearby vicinity and now houses a science museum. Other attractions in the area include Terrace Falls, Victor Falls and Bedford Pool

The earliest history of Hazelbrook and Woodford has some similarity to that of numerous other localities in the Blue Mountains. From the timeless wanderings of the aborigines to the first tentative colonial exploratory attempts the area was nothing more than inhospitable mountainous terrain. Doubtless, the fIrst white people to enter the district were desperate convicts escaping from the terrors of captivity in a harsh open-prison environment to the terrors of the unfamiliar bush land. Later, others lived on the fringes of that brutal society seeking a living from hunting the strange animals. Their names remain unknown.

There is intense interest among long-time residents of Hazelbrook in discovering how the town was named.

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