Morisset

Morisset is a commercial centre and suburb of the City of Lake Macquarie, Greater Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia, and is located west of Lake Macquarie just off the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway.

Morisset is a commercial centre and suburb of the City of Lake Macquarie, Greater Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia, and is located west of Lake Macquarie just off the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway. The count at the 2016 Census was 3,213 for the gazetted suburb of Morisset. The estimated urban population of the Morisset area, including Cooranbong, was 25,662 as at June 2019. The area has experienced moderate growth over the five years to 2019 with an average year-on-year rate of 1.79 percent.

The town is named for Major James Thomas Morisset, who camped there in 1823 while making the overland journey from Sydney to Newcastle. Morisset went on to become Commandant at Norfolk Island prison between 1829–1833, where his brutal regime led to a rebellion. Historically there has been considerable confusion over the spelling of the suburb: Morissett, Morriset, Morrissett and Morrisset have been used.The earliest settlement in the area was at Cooranbong in 1826, about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) west of the current town and near the foot of the Watagan Mountains. Initially, various kinds of agriculture were conducted, and before long forestry became an important industry. Most of the transport to the area at the time was by river boat on Dora Creek meaning that Cooranbong was the most accessible part of town. The town of Morisset itself was essentially non-existent until 1887, when the Sydney-Newcastle railway was built. Morisset sprang up as a sawmill town clustered around the train station, and the township was proclaimed on 3 December.In 1908, a psychiatric hospital opened on a large estate along the lake shore. At its height in the 1960s, Morisset Mental Hospital had 1,600 patients. The Hospital continues to dominate Morisset's reputation, although it is now only a 130-bed hospital.The first bus service was started by the Ward family.

In more recent times, the Morisset Peninsula to the east of the town has become the main residential area. It has experienced a high rate of growth since the construction of Eraring Power Station in 1986. Most of Bonnells Bay is now what long-time residents quaintly refer to as "high-density housing", although by city standards it is decidedly low-density. Several retirement villages have been built, most of them only in the last decade. Subdivision of larger blocks has come close to saturation in many suburbs, with only a few hobby-farms still remaining, although the majority of the Morisset district and peninsula remain bushland and National Park and Aboriginal reserves.