City of Campbelltown (New South Wales): History and growth
Campbelltown was founded in 1820, named after Elizabeth Macquarie née Campbell, wife of the then Governor Lachlan Macquarie. The town was one of a series of south-western settlements established by Macquarie at that time; the others include Ingleburn and Liverpool.
Campbelltown Council was originally incorporated on 21 January 1882. The present boundaries of the City of Campbelltown were largely formed in 1949, following the amalgamation of the Municipalities of Ingleburn (incorporated in April 1896) and Campbelltown, as part of a rationalisation of local government areas across New South Wales following World War II. Campbelltown was presented with its own coat of arms in 1969. The coat of arms were based those on the arms of the Campbell family in Scotland.
Campbelltown was designated as a satellite city and a regional capital for the south west of Sydney in the early 1960s in the Sydney Region Outline Plan, prepared by the Planning Commission of New South Wales. There was extensive building and population growth in the intervening time and the government surrounded the township with areas which were set aside for public and private housing and industry.
Campbelltown was declared a city on 4 May 1968 by the Hon. Pat Morton, Minister for Local Government and Highways. That same day saw the arrival of the first electric train to Campbelltown from Sydney.
As a city, Campbelltown honoured the 1st Signals Regiment (now the 1st Joint Support Unit) with the medieval custom of the Freedom of the city. The mayor, Alderman Clive Tregear, wanted to recognise the contribution to the units based at the Ingleburn Army Barracks. The regiment marched through Campbelltown until it got transferred to Queensland in the 1980s.
Opened in 2005, the Campbelltown Arts Centre is a cultural facility of Campbelltown City Council that is partially funded by the New South Wales Government through Create NSW.