Early colonial history The British history of the city begins in : a pastoral run covering an area of was taken up by
Captain Dumaresq at this time covering the Lismore area and was stocked with sheep from the
New England area. Ward Stephens took up the run in the same year, but the subtropical climate was unsuited for sheep grazing, so it was eventually abandoned. In January 1845, William and Jane Wilson took it over. The Wilsons were Scottish immigrants, who arrived in New South Wales in May 1833. Mrs. Wilson named the property after the small
island of Lismore, one of the
Inner Hebrides in
Loch Linnhe,
Argyleshire. In 1855, the surveyor Frederick Peppercorne was instructed by Sir
Thomas Mitchell to determine a site for a township in the area. Peppercorne submitted his map of the proposed village reserve on 16 February 1856. The chosen site was William Wilson's homestead paddock and the area was proclaimed the "Town of Lismore" in the NSW Government Gazette on 1 May 1856. The township was soon settled and its post office was opened on 1 October 1859. The Wilson family then established a new homestead at Monaltrie, some 6 km south of Lismore, in 1861 which still survives and has been stated to be "Lismore's oldest home", although the Lismore "Northern Star" has elsewhere given that distinction to a timber-built home "Locheil" in Bouyon Street, North Lismore, stated to date from 1860 and originally occupied by Mr and Mrs John Jones, later a private hospital and local maternity hospital between 1911 and 1917. Both "Monaltrie" and "Locheil" are included on the list of Lismore Heritage items, along with other sites and structures of historic significance. From the 1840s onwards, timber cutters moved up the Richmond River from its
Ballina entrance felling timber from the extensive, previously untouched subtropical rainforest covering the region known as the "
Big Scrub"; their primary interest was the Australian red cedar,
Toona ciliata, known locally as "red gold", which was highly prized for its appearance, ease of working, and pest resistance. At that time there was no substantial network of roads so rivers were the primary means of access and bulk transportation. Despite its low-lying position and propensity for flooding (which was to cause problems in subsequent times), Lismore developed as an inland port owing to its location at the highest navigable point for large cargo-carrying vessels on the north arm of the Richmond, later renamed the
Wilsons, River. For the second half of the 19th century the primary industries of the Lismore region continued to be cattle grazing and timber, supporting a growing economy and population and the development of secondary industries which included ship building, transportation, saw milling, tallow manufacturing and more. As the Big Scrub was cleared, it was steadily replaced with new pasture which formed the basis of a flourishing dairy industry, and many processing plants ("butter factories") and dairy cooperatives were established throughout the region. Infrastructure development in Lismore continued, including the presence of three schools by 1879, a new Government Wharf in 1880, two new bridges over the river in 1884 and 1885, the railway station (1894) and a new post office building (1898); by the end of that century Lismore had a population of over 4,500, although had suffered from some ravages including numerous floods plus a period of drought in the last half of the 1890s. Meanwhile, economic development in Lismore continued, including construction of a new School of Arts (1907, destroyed by fire in 1932), building of churches for four denominations, opening of a new
Norco (dairy farmers' cooperative) factory in 1931, and other utilities.
Transport in Lismore Lismore Airport had ceased commercial passenger operations after
Rex Airlines discontinued its service between Sydney and Lismore, ending its longstanding operation with the final flight operating in June 2022. Air travel is now served by
Ballina Byron Gateway Airport which is located approximately east of Lismore. Regular coach services towards Casino and Brisbane are run by Premier Motor Service, and NSW Trainlink. Ballina Buslines and Northern Rivers Buslines run regular cash only services towards Byron Bay, Kyogle, Ballina, Goonellebah, and Nimbin. A 2013 government report found that 90% of trips in the Northern Rivers region were by car, with 1% by public transport. This was attributed to a small and distributed population.
City status Lismore was officially gazetted as a city on 9 September 1946, with grant of an official coat of arms on 29 January 1947. In the early 1950s, civic pride was boosted by a visit from the newly crowned Queen
Elizabeth II with her consort who visited the city in February 1954, staying at the city's Gollan Hotel. Television came to the city in 1956 and a local channel commenced broadcast in 1962 in the suburb of Goonellabah, which had been incorporated into the city of Lismore four years earlier. In 1969, the aerodrome at South Lismore received its licence from the Department of Civil Aviation, becoming the basis of the future
Lismore Airport. The 1960s were something of a boom time in development for Lismore, although the dairy industry was starting to decline and by the end of that decade and into the 1970s, many farmers turned to raising beef cattle instead, or simply let their land condition lapse. Later, especially following the 1973 "alternative society"
Aquarius Festival, which was held in the nearby village of
Nimbin, the area began to attract so-called "alternative lifestylers" who were able to buy ex-dairying land at reasonable prices and re-invigorate the area with a range of pursuits and values of interest to a new generation, including an interest in owner-building of residences, experiments in communal living, environmental awareness and various artistic and creative activities, leading to badging of the area around Lismore as the "rainbow region". Meanwhile, Lismore has also become a regional centre for higher education: the original Lismore Teachers College (1970 onwards) becoming first the Northern Rivers College of Advanced Education in 1973, then an associate member of the
University of New England, and finally (together with UNE-Coffs Harbour Centre), forming the Lismore Campus of the new
Southern Cross University (established 1 January 1994). In addition, tourism has become an important contributor to the region's economy as well as the development of new agricultural products such as macadamias, avocado and stone fruit, pecans, and boutique coffee plantations, which are well suited to the rich volcanic soils, subtropical climate and moderately high rainfall of the area. As traditional agricultural and manufacturing sectors have declined somewhat, so employment in the service sector has expanded. At the 2016 census, within Lismore City and the surrounding region (43,135 persons) the top employment sectors reported were Health Care and Social Assistance (4,534 persons), Retail Trade (2,491 persons), Education and Training (2,448 persons) and Accommodation and Food Services (1,297 persons), followed by Public Administration and Safety (1,204 persons), Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing (1,018 persons), Manufacturing (1,000 persons) and Construction (967 persons).
Architecture and amenities Surviving buildings of historical interest within Lismore City include the old Council Chambers (1928) in Molesworth Street designed by William Gilroy, now home to the Richmond River Historical Society Museum with a collection of objects, documents and photographs relevant to the historical development of the area, including Aboriginal artifacts; the Art Nouveau post office (1897), designed by W.L. Vernon; the original Australian Joint Stock Bank (1891), built in the Italianate style, now the T & G Building; the classical revival courthouse (1883) in Zadoc Street; the Lismore Memorial Baths (1928), constructed as a memorial to local persons who died in World War I; and various churches including St Andrew's Anglican Church (1904),
St Carthage's Roman Catholic Cathedral (1892–1907), the Uniting (formerly Methodist) Church (1908–09), the Church of Christ (1923), and St Paul's Presbyterian Church (1907–08). Adjacent to St. Carthage's Cathedral, Presentation House, a convent opened for the Roman Catholic
Presentation Sisters in 1907 and used by the nuns until 2004, has been refurbished and now serves as the Catholic Schools Office for the Diocese of Lismore. The commercial city centre retains many shopfronts ranging in date from the late nineteenth to mid twentieth centuries with little modern intrusion; a feature of interest is the presence of numerous arcades, for example the 1920s Star Court Arcade, which includes the 1921 Star Court Theatre, which allow shoppers to continue to shop in comfort in the presence of subtropical downpours as well as extremes of heat or cold. Many homes in the city are built in the "high set" style otherwise common to much of
Queensland (refer accompanying photographs) with living accommodation on the first floor leaving the ground floor unenclosed by structural walls and open to cooling breezes beneath the floorboards in the summer. With the advent of
air conditioning in more recent years, such understories have frequently been walled in retrospectively and used for other purposes such as garages, play areas (rumpus rooms) or additional accommodation; in commercial areas they may also be adapted for shop fronts at street/pedestrian level. Most houses also feature covered
verandahs wrapping around part or all of the house, to provide both shade from hot sun as needed, and an outdoor area protected from the elements for activities during wet weather. The city encompasses a range of parks and gardens, some bordering the river, as well as Rotary Park, a patch of regenerated rainforest close to the centre of the city, and a 27 ha remnant of the "Big Scrub" in the form of the Wilson Nature Reserve (see below). ==Heritage and other listings==