In the early years of European settlement of
Sydney, exploration southwest of Sydney was slow. In 1818,
Hamilton Hume and
James Meehan reached
"the Goulburn plains" for the first time. Governor
Lachlan Macquarie ordered the construction of the Great South Road (the basis of the northern end of the
Hume Highway) in 1819 from
Picton to the Goulburn Plains. The southern part of Macquarie's road ran from
Sutton Forest roughly along existing minor roads to
Canyonleigh,
Brayton,
Carrick and
Towrang, where it joined the current route to Goulburn. Branching from this route (now called the
Illawarra Highway at this point) just south of Sutton Forest, a road, now known as Old Argyle Road, developed in the 1820s. It ran to
Bungonia, via
Wingello,
Tallong, and the southern outskirts of Marulan, all, except Wingello, located in
Argyle County, along with Goulburn. In the early 19th century Bungonia was expected to become a major centre, but it subsequently proved unsuitable for intensive agriculture. When
Thomas Mitchell rerouted the Great South Road in the 1830s, he decided to bring these two roads together and build a junction at old Marulan, with roads proceeding to Goulburn and Bungonia. In 1986, the town was bypassed when a
dual carriageway section of the Hume Highway opened. == Marulan Meridian Arch ==