Prior to European arrival, the part of the Nowra region south of the Shoalhaven river was inhabited by the Wandi-Wandandian tribe of the
Yuin nation, while the region north of Shoalhaven was inhabited by the
Dharawal people. The name Nowra, originally written by Europeans as 'nou-woo-ro' (pronounced Nowa Nowa by the Indigenous Australians of the area), is an Aboriginal word for the
black cockatoo. Circa 1824, ex-convict
Mary Reibey applied for a land grant in the Burrier area, on the southern side of the
Shoalhaven River. The Nowra township was officially recognised in 1852. Less than ten years later, in 1861, a postal service was established. In 1861, the racehorse
Archer, which was trained in Nowra by
Etienne de Mestre, won the first
Melbourne Cup. Nowra was declared a town in 1885 and a city in 1979. A major landmark in the area is the house
Bundanon, which renowned Australian artist
Arthur Boyd and his wife Yvonne donated to the people of Australia in 1993 along with an adjoining property that had been previously owned by Boyd's brother-in-law, the equally famous Australian artist
Sidney Nolan. Bundanon began as a single-storey weatherboard structure built around 1840. In 1866, a two-storey sandstone house, made of locally quarried stone, was built immediately in front of the original weatherboard house. The sandstone house features timber verandas and is now listed on the
Register of the National Estate. == Heritage listings ==