The Traditional Owners of Harwood are the Yaegl people, and the Yaegl name for the Clarence River is Berrimba.
Harwood was settled by Europeans in 1838, with logging the early economic driver. The key employer in the town has been sugar cane since CSR built their mill in 1877. The mill is now the oldest continuously operating sugar mill in Australia.
As a river town the waterway was important to the sugar cane industry. Today the river provides a scenic outlook for the residents and visitors of Harwood.
The recent Woolgoolga to Ballina project has seen an upgrade of 155km of the Pacific Highway. As part of this upgrade, a new bridge has been constructed at Harwood that crosses the Clarence River. The height of the new bridge allows for continued navigation of masted boats up river.
The new Harwood Bridge offers the village an opportunity to leverage it’s river location, Aboriginal and built heritage to increase its viability as a place to live, visit and invest.
