The river was a source of life for Aboriginal people for many millennia. Its floodplains spawned dense rainforests, teeming with animal life which fed the Wonnarua. The lagoons on the floodplain, filled from rain and floods, were rich in bird life and fish.

When Europeans arrived, the fertile alluvial soils of the river's floodplains nurtured a farming economy that supported the development of the town and helped feed Newcastle and Sydney.

For decades the floodplains supported a food bowl economy that has now largely disappeared.

From the beginnings of European settlement, the river was vital for transport. Movement by road was difficult and costly, and the Hunter connected Maitland with Newcastle and Sydney. It provided sites for ports in the former Horseshoe Bend loop (now the location of important sports fields) and downstream at Morpeth.

For a time, the river was the main access between Maitland and the outside world. Over time, as creeks were bridged and roads created, the Hunter as a transport artery was eclipsed. After 1858 the railway from Newcastle reached West Maitland and the river above Morpeth lost virtually all significance as a transport link. Then, in 1893, the river changed its course, cutting off the Horseshoe Bend loop and abandoning the site of the former Port of Maitland.

The river continued to be a source of water for agricultural, household and industrial use and for fighting fires. Bucket brigades raised its water to supply fire engines.

The river was also a depository for Maitland's human and industrial wastes. These seeped gradually to it through the alluvial soils and later were piped to the channel. At times, the pollution by wastes was severe, but the river was also used for public bathing in floating baths at Horseshoe Bend. Rowing on it became a significant sporting activity.

Eventually a major water supply facility was created at Walka, supplying Maitland and communities downstream to Newcastle. Later, the river's water was used to create a modern sewerage scheme.

The river is also the source of flooding, a threat to life, property, comfort and the economy.

During floods it is widely seen as a foe to be wrestled into submission: hence the construction of levees designed to keep floodwaters out of the built-up areas. Thus floods were diverted around the town, reducing the havoc wrought on Maitland.

The threat to the built-up area cannot be eliminated entirely, however, and the flood problem has not been fully overcome.

The river, in flood and out of it, has inspired artists, photographers and writers. Paintings, sketches, poetry, short stories and plays about the Hunter abound in the Maitland area. Much artistic endeavour has been stimulated. There is Hunter music too.

The Hunter River has both nurtured Maitland and threatened it. People have loved it, hated it, feared it, used it and been in awe of it. But mostly they have needed it, and probably more than today's residents recognise.

These days we are more separated from the river and from its moods than we once were. Probably, we under-appreciate its value and its significance to our lives.