Middle Dural

Middle Dural

Middle Dural is situated midway between the suburbs of Dural and Glenorie (originally called Upper Dural). When James Meehan surveyed the district in 1817, he recorded Dural as the place name used by local members of the Dharug Aboriginal people. Later research has suggested it derives from dooral dooral, meaning 'burning logs'. [1]

From 1819, the Best family began settling there. In 1827, the Great North Road (now the Old Northern Road) was constructed through the district, and Thomas Best established Best's Inn at present-day Middle Dural. [2]

By 1890, a community was sufficiently established to petition for a school. The school inspector who examined the proposal recommended that the new school be called Middle Dural, to distinguish it from the neighbouring schools at Dural and Upper Dural. This was the first recorded use of the name. [3]

With the introduction of local government into the Hills District in 1906, Middle Dural, like the other settlements on the Old Northern Road, found itself straddling the boundary between Hornsby and Baulkham Hills shires. By this time, it had sufficient community spirit to have its own Progress Association. [4]

In 1973, the local population rallied to oppose the proposal for a Galston Airport, which threatened to effectively eliminate Middle Dural, together with the neighbouring townships of Galston, Glenorie, and Arcadia. [5]

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