Entrance To Paterson Village

Entrance to Paterson Village 40.5cm x 29cm Original Oil on Board by John Vander

Nestled on the banks of the Paterson River, the historic village of Paterson invites you to step back in time.
The area was originally blanketed in a cedar forest – the ancestral lands of the Wonnarua, Gringai and the Worimi people for thousands of years. As early as 1811 a few small farms were established at Paterson Plains with first white settlement at “Old Banks” on the river near Tocal, where convict gangs cut and floated cedar logs down the river.
First land grants were in 1821 and in 1833. Paterson became one of the earliest settled areas on the Australian mainland. A further subdivision in 1840 formed the southern part of the village and in 1885 Paterson was proclaimed a town.