Important Dates

1832 Robert Holt Best and Charles Tompson established station runs on south and north banks respectively of Murrumbidgee River.

1847 Police Station and Court House established.

1849 Proclamation as a town, and first survey by Surveyor Thomas Townshend.
First Wagga Cup Race Meeting, 17 March

1851 First store opened by Dr Robert Davison.

1862 Wagga Wagga Bridge opened for traffic.

1870 Municipality of Wagga Wagga incorporated, 15 March
Population: 1,000

1874 Famous Tichborne Trial.

1879 Railway line extended to Wagga Wagga.

1880 Gasworks established by Wark Bros.

1881 City Council Chambers erected

1885 Water Works established.

1888 Gasworks taken over by Council.

1891 Saleyards control vested in Council.

1895 Hampden Bridge erected.

1899 First Council Meeting of 12 Aldermen.

1916 Installation of first sewerage main.

1922 Electricity switched on 6 May.

1925 Best Street overhead railway traffic bridge opened.

1928 Electricity switched over from Burrinjuck.
Victory Memorial Gardens established.

1932 Water reticulated to North Wagga.

1938 Water Supply Filtration/Plant installed.

1940 Establishment of No. 2/S.F.T.S. R.A.A.F. at Forest Hill (now R.A.A.F. Base).

1941 Establishment of Royal Australian Engineers Training Centre at Kapooka (now known as Kapooka Military Area).

1943 Opening of College of Technical and Further Education.

1945 Transfer of Electricity Trading and Water Supply Undertakings to the Southern Riverina County Council, 2 July.

1946 Wagga Wagga proclaimed a City, 17 April.
Municipal Library opened.

1947 Teachers College established (absorbed into Charles Sturt University).

1951 Municipal Abattoir opened.
Extension of City boundary, 7 December. Total area, 8,971 hectares.
First Chiko Roll ever sold was at the Wagga Wagga Country Show

1952 Interim Development under the provisions of the Town and Country Planning Scheme operative as from 19 September.

1953 City Baths officially opened, 28 November.

1954 Visit to Wagga Wagga by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, 13 February.

1957 Sewerage Treatment Works Reconstruction and Augmentation Works completed.

1958 Town Planning Scheme adopted.

1960 Completion of Flood Prevention and Mitigation Scheme.

1961 Civic Centre Baby Health Clinic opened.
Ivan Jack Drive opened.

1962 Kooringal Sewerage System inaugurated.
Botanic Gardens established.
Sister City Affiliation: Wagga Wagga (NSW) - Leavenworth (Kansas, USA).

1963 Chaston Street Gasworks completed.
Civic Theatre opened.
Miss Leavenworth (USA) to Wagga Wagga.

1964 A.R. Bluett Memorial Award to City Council for greatest relative progress in Local Government in 1963.

1965 Town Planning Scheme gazetted 2nd April.
Cassidy Bridge erected

1966 Coat of Arms and City Flag dedicated and handed over, 2nd June.

1967 Cemetery control vested in Council.
Sister City Affiliation: Wagga Wagga (NSW) - Nordlingen (Germany).

1968 Extension of City Boundary, 1 January. Total area, 10,333 hectares.

1970 Centenary of Proclamation of Municipality.

1971 Completion of Lawn Cemetery-Crematorium.
Official visit by Oberburgermeister of Nordlingen, Dr. H. Kessler.

1972 Opening of Riverina Institure of Higher Education (later Charles Sturt University).

1975 Eunony Bridge opened, 7 June.

1976 Major extensions to Wagga Wagga City Meat Processing Plant, opened 3 June.
Railway Underpass, Edward Street opened.

1977 Bolton Park Stadium opened.

1978 Regional Library established.

1979 Tourist Information Centre opened.
Livestock Marketing Centre opened.

1980 Art Gallery officially opened, 24 January.

1981 Amalgamation of City of Wagga Wagga with Shires of Mitchell and Kyeamba.
Official visit of 62 members of St. George's Choir of Nordlingen, in company with the Oberburgermeister, Dr Hermann Kessler.
Natural Gas supplied to Wagga Wagga.

1984 Centenary of birth of Field Marshal Sir Thomas Blamey, GBE, KCB, CMG, DSO, ED, at Lake Albert, 24 January.

1986 Wagga Wagga awarded first place in NSW Tidy Town competition.

1988 Outdoor Entertainment Centre opened.
Sister City Affiliation: Wagga Wagga-Kumming, China.
Wagga Wagga awarded first place in N.S.W. Tidy Town competition - Wagga Wagga first to win award twice.

1989 Railway Overpass, Glenfield Road, opened.

1991 Tarcutta Sewerage System completed.

1992 Airport control vested in Council.

1995 Wiradjuri Bridge erected.

1997 Gobbagombalin Bridge opened.
Natural Gas business sold to Great Southern Energy.