Maitland, New South Wales
Maitland in New South Wales is, realistically, two townships. There is Central Maitland, with its impressive High Street and charming mall, The Levee, and there is East Maitland. Both townships have an excess of impressive buildings. Visitors, keen to see how gracious these towns, should allow time to explore their rich heritage.
It is also worth remembering that Maitland, perhaps more than any other city in Australia, has been wracked by floods. The Hunter River, so close to the city and prone to flooding, has broken its banks 15 times since European settlement. In 1955 it was so bad that it killed 14 people. This prompted the construction of levees, spillways and flood channels to mitigate the effects.
Maitland has always been the principal town of the Hunter Valley (although Newcastle would dispute this claim). Consequently, it has many historic buildings as well as a local brickworks, light industry, tourism and an open-cut mine. Many residents commute to the mines further north up the Hunter Valley and south to the Newcastle area. However it is likely that coal will become increasingly unimportant in the next decade. It will be totally replaced by vineyards and boutique food production.
Location
Maitland in New South Wales is located on the Hunter River 10 metres above sea level, 166 km north of Sydney via the Pacific and New England Highways and 33 km north-west of Newcastle.
Origin of Name
When the Hunter Valley was first explored by Lieutenant-Colonel Paterson in 1801. He named the future site of Maitland, Schanck’s Forest Plains. Somehow the original name was lost. By 1833, when the government town was proclaimed, it has become known as Maitland.
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