Situated in the heart of a highly fertile agricultural district, it naturally acquired the industries that processed rural products and the first venture of this kind was a tobacco manufactory. 

It opened in the 1830s and from then on there was a series of mills, breweries and tanneries which added to employment opportunities and the prosperity of the town.

As the population of the district grew, new opportunities were created and manufacturers such as Browne’s Monumental Works, Dimmock’s Printery, Wolstenholme’s Saw Mills, Rourke’s Saddlery, Barden and Ribee’s Saddlery and Fry Brothers’ Furniture earned reputations far wider than their immediate district. 

Thus, although Maitland continued to favour free trade principles, there was also a good deal of concern about the impact of imported goods on the town’s manufacturers.

When an inquiry into the district’s manufacturing was held in 1889 five factories were employing 60 men and boys to make buggies, carriages and other horse drawn vehicles and there were 11 saddle and harness makers, seven of them in West Maitland. 

As well, there were six cabinet making establishments and the manufacture of agricultural appliances such as ploughs, barrows, hay presses and horse gears was carried on an extensive scale. 

Brewing beer and porter was the province of G.M. Milne and Company which supplied the north, the north-western and coastal regions and there were several cordial makers and one soap works.

Manufacturing, it is clear, played an important part in the rise of High Street.

SOURCE: The Rise of High Street, Maitland – A Pictorial History by John Turner.