Prior to European settlement the Bundjalung Aboriginal people occupied the area that now forms the Tweed Shire (which includes Murwillumbah).

Timber getters began harvesting timber in the sub-tropical forests of the region around 1844.

The Murwillumbah townsite was surveyed in 1872.

Sugar cane was being grown and refined in the Murwillumbah area by 1875.

The Municipality of Murwillumbah came into existence in 1902, but merged with the Shire of Tweed to become the Tweed Shire in 1947.

The first passenger train reached Murwillumbah from Lismore on Christmas Eve 1894. The goods shed and water tower constructed around this time remain as part of the town's railway complex today. The pre cast concrete railway station building was erected circa 1826.

A lift-span bridge across the Tweed River was opened in 1901.

In 1902 the Queensland-style 'Lisnager' was built just out of town for Irish immigrant Edward Twohill, who named the house after an 11th century castle in County Cork, Island.

In September 1907 a fire which began in Dainer's Bakehouse and spread throughout Murwillumbah's business area, destroying most of the original town centre. Rebuilding work was subsequently commenced and a number of civic improvements to the town were undertaken as part of this process.

The local dairying industry expanded with the advent of refrigerated transport and the establishment of Norco's Cheese and Butter Factory in 1911. Murwillumbah's industries today include sugarcane, cattle-raising, tea, coffee and tropical fruit growing.

Murwillumbah Museum (courtesy Tweed River Regional Museum)

Murwillumbah sits on the banks of the Tweed River, around 30 kilometres south of the NSW Queensland border. The town derives its name from an Aboriginal term which has been attributed with a number of meanings, including 'home of many possums' (the most commonly accepted translation) and 'big camping place'. Murwillumbah is today the administrative centre of the Tweed Shire.