Kooragang

Kooragang is the northernmost and largest suburb of the city of Newcastle, in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia.

Kooragang is the northernmost and largest suburb of the city of Newcastle, in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. Dominated by Kooragang Island, the eastern part of the suburb is primarily industrial, while the western part of the suburb consists of nature reserves. Covering an area of 35.4 km2 (13.7 sq mi), at the 2016 census, there were no people living in the suburb.

Kooragang is dominated by Kooragang Island, which was created by reclaiming land, combining a number of smaller islands in the Hunter River estuary. The original islands were separated by mud flats and various channels and were first explored and surveyed by Europeans in 1801. Larger islands included Ash Island, Upper Moscheto, Moscheto Island, Dempsey Island, and Spit Island.Ash Island was the largest of the islands, named because of the Ash trees that grew upon it. By 1821, much of Ash and other timber on the island had been harvested. In 1827 Alexander Scott was granted 1,036 ha (2,560 acres) of land there. After settling on the island in 1831, it grew as a community with many visitors. The original wooden bridge linking the island to the mainland was eventually replaced with a concrete bridge that is still used today. Fifty families lived on the island until it was devastated by the 1955 Hunter Valley floods. By the 1960s, industrial development closer to Newcastle resulted in a land reclamation scheme that combined the smaller islands into what is now Kooragang Island. The western part of Kooragang island, which is now home to the Kooragang Wetland Rehabilitation Project, is still known as Ash Island.