Newcastle’s famous places,
and their stories

Newcastle Signpost

Mulubinba
Newcastle, N.S.W.

Free to readThe places Newcastle is known for: what to see, and the story behind each oneSources on every page

Swimmers at the Bogey Hole — Swimmers at the Bogey Hole, from an undated early photographPhoto: Unknown photographer, CC BY-SA 3.0

About 1819 · The convict town

The Bogey Hole, Newcastle: the convict-cut bath below King Edward Park

Convicts cut it into the rock shelf for the commandant of a penal settlement. Two hundred years later it is still the most famous swim in Newcastle.

By Ruth Ellery

Read the history of the Bogey Hole

Start here: the places people ask about most

Photo: USGS, Public domain1989 earthquake10.27am, 28 December

The Signpost map

Every numbered pin is a story. Merewether Ocean Baths is off the map, 3 km south-west along the coast.

The town

Photo: Unknown, Public domain
1876 · The town
Newcastle theatres: the Victoria Theatre and the nights out of old Newcastle
Newcastle had stage-and-screen theatres all over town from the 1870s. The one that survives on Perkins Street is the oldest theatre building still standing in New South Wales.

Hard days

Photo: USGS, Public domain
1989 · Hard days
The 1989 Newcastle earthquake: 10.27am, 28 December
A moderate earthquake under Boolaroo, three days after Christmas, killed 13 people and damaged 50,000 buildings. It was one of the worst natural disasters in Australian history.