Gosford is located at the head of Brisbane Water, 85 kilometres north of Sydney.

Governor Arthur Phillip and party were the first Europeans to investigate the area, originally inhabited by the Guringgai Aboriginal people.

Phillip's initial investigation of Broken Bay occurred in 1788, around a month after the First Fleet arrived at Sydney Cove. He returned again the next year to conduct a more detailed investigation of the area. However, the discovery of the Hawkesbury River on this expedition resulted in agricultural settlement being developed in that area while the 'north-west arm', as Brisbane Water was then known, remained unoccupied by the European settlers.

White settlement around the future site of Gosford began in the 1820s when timber getters entered the area. Small farming enterprises, shell collection for lime-burning and boat building operations that lasted into the 20th century were other early industries in the area.

The first recognised white settler at Brisbane Water was James Webb, who occupied land in the district in 1823. Webb was also the first local shipbuilder. By 1828 the population of the district was around 100 people, half of which were convicts.

Modern-day Gosford began as two settlements. A settler named Samuel Peek established a private town at East Gosford in 1822. The planned government township was not surveyed until 1839, when it was named Gosford. The private settlement was the more prominent of the two throughout the 1840s.

Gosford's first Anglican church was built between 1838 and 1843. A new sandstone courthouse was built in 1848-49, though later additions have been made to the original structure. It replaced an earlier watch-house (1827) and courthouse (circa 1833). This is now the Central Coast's oldest extant public building, though it is no longer used for its original purpose.

In 1857-58 the Christ Church was constructed at East Gosford to a design by Edmund Blacket. It was moved stone-by-stone to its current site in 1905 to accommodate the shift in settlement to the site of Gosford. The numbering system used in the move is still visible on the sandstone blocks today. It is now the church hall to the new Christ Church (1960). The church rectory (1913) and the old Christ Church are both now heritage listed.

The private and government settlements began to merge during the 1850s, though it wasn't until 1886 that they were incorporated as a municipality.

In 1873 poet Henry Kendall arrived in Gosford, suffering from ill health. He was taken in by the Fagan family he stayed at their farm until 1875. Kendall wrote poems including 'The Last of His Tribe' and 'Names Upon a Stone' while living with the Fagans.

The Fagan family were important early local settlers. Their cottage (now known as Henry Kendall Cottage) was built using locally hewn sandstone by convict labour for Peter Fagan in 1836-40, opening as the Red Cow Inn in 1840 before being renamed 'Cooranbean'. The Fagan family owned the cottage until 1920-21, when it was bought by Colonial Garnett Adcock. The building remained a private residence until it was purchased by the Brisbane Water Historical Society in 1959.

The completion of a railway bridge across the Hawkesbury River in 1889 allowed for the arrival of the first trains in Gosford that year. The establishment of the rail line from Sydney opened the area up as a holiday destination for Sydneysiders as well as assisting in the growth of the agricultural and timber industries.

The completion of the Pacific Highway to Gosford in 1930 provided a more direct road transport link to Sydney.

The City of Gosford was proclaimed in 1980 and the next year the Local Government Area had a population of 94,369 people.

Henry Kendall Cottage (courtesy Central Coast Tourism)

Further road and rail developments since WWII have helped to make Gosford a commuter suburb of Sydney.