Before there was a Maitland newspaper, occasional articles on the area appeared in the Sydney press. One such piece was published on 13 February, 1841 in the Sydney Herald. It was headlined 'Government blunders - townships Maitland." It was scathing about how the area had been allowed to develop over the previous 20 years.
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By 1841 three small towns West Maitland, East Maitland and Morpeth appeared. Their combined population approached 3000, more than half living in West Maitland, but their houses and businesses straggled over a distance of six miles.
To the Herald writer, this was inefficient, the result of the government having allowed the best site for a town (Morpeth) to be granted to EC Close, in 1821. This had been a "deplorable oversight" and an "egregious blunder". One town was what was needed, and it should be "concentrated" at the head of navigation for the sea-going vessels bringing in the district's needs and taking produce to Sydney.
The government realised its mistake and sought to buy some of Close's land for a town. No price could be agreed. In 1829 the government gave up on negotiations and instead sought to create a town - East Maitland.
By this time Wallis Plains was the established focus of the district. It had 'the jump' on East Maitland and Morpeth, and investment in wharves, shops, inns and manufacturing. The momentum established was to ensure West Maitland remained the main centre.
Had Morpeth been the focus from the start, urban growth would have been more muted at West Maitland - less need for small craft plying the shallow, tortuous river upstream of Morpeth. The double-handling involved in transhipment at Morpeth would have been reduced. In a less straggled town it would also have been easier and more efficient to provide policing and postal services. The implication was that a 'proper' town, more efficiently serviced, would have arisen if centred on Morpeth from the mid-1820s and would have been above the ravages of flooding.
A town's location, the Herald said, helps dictate the efficiency of its functioning. To flourish, towns ought to be in the centre of a rich productive area, on a coastal harbour or on a river at the head of navigation for big ships. Once an appropriate site was obtained, the town then had to be built in a "concentrated" manner.
Had the government reclaimed the site of Morpeth from Close by about 1825, growth would have proceeded differently. West Maitland would have grown less and Morpeth would have been the Hunter's major centre. Urban expansion would have been on the high ridge towards East Maitland, the development of transport would have responded to a different settlement reality and floods would have been less of a problem.
