A chronological list of events from Parramatta’s early colonial settlement to the present.
| 1788 | 24 April. Site of Parramatta chosen by Governor Phillip. |
| 1788 | 2 November. Settlement at Rose Hill (now Parramatta) founded. |
| 1788 | King’s Wharf, Parramatta, established. |
| 1789 | 1 November. James Ruse established the first private farm in Australia. |
| 1789 | November. First wheat crop harvested at Rose Hill. |
| 1790 | June. First burial in St. John’s Cemetery. |
| 1790 | Parramatta Town laid out. |
| 1791 | James Ruse granted 30 acres. |
| 1791 | Australia’s first grape vines planted in the Governor’s garden, Parramatta Park |
| 1791 | 30 March. Experiment Farm, No. 1 grant. |
| 1791 | May. Military barracks completed. |
| 1791 | 4 June. Rose Hill renamed Parramatta |
| 1792 | First Public House erected. |
| 1792 | Foundations laid for the first Town Hall site in Parramatta. |
| 1792 | 22 February. John Irving, Australia’s first emancipated convict, granted land on the Parramatta River. |
| 1793 | Elizabeth Farm House built. |
| 1793 | First road constructed to Parramatta. An unsealed road travelled from Sydney to current Flemmington then to Mona Street, South Granville and then to the south of Parramatta around Pitt and Church Street. |
| 1796 | Sydney’s first Gaols built in Alfred Park and in Sydney Town. |
| 1796 | September. First Church opened. |
| 1799 | First part Old Government House, Australia’s oldest surviving public building, completed. |
| 1799 | First Parramatta Gaol burns down. |
| 1801 | 17 August. Female Ophan School opens. |
| 1803 | 9 April. First St. John’s Church opened. |
| 1804 | First brewery in Parramatta opens. |
| 1804 | New gaol completed in Prince Alfred Park. |
| 1810 | April. First horse-race held in Parramatta. |
| 1810 | John Eyre’s school opened. |
| 1811 | Town extended by Macquarie |
| 1812 | Map of the town by James Meehan, Deputy Surveyor. |
| 1814 | ‘Native Institution’ school for Aboriginal people founded. |
| 1816 | New St John’s Parsonage built. |
| 1818 | New Hospital erected. |
| 1818 | Parramatta Orphan School completed. |
| 1820 | Military barracks completed |
| 1820 | Convict Barrack erected. |
| 1820 | Towers of St. John’s Church completed. |
| 1821 | First Methodist Church built. |
| 1821 | Female Factory completed. |
| 1821 | Brislington House built. |
| 1822 | Aboriginal Meetings in Parramatta Square, 1822-1833 |
| 1822 | Agricultural Society established. |
| 1823 | Parramatta Observatory erected. |
| 1825 | Foundation stone of the Darling Mills (Flour) laid on site of present Sydney Woollen Mills. |
| 1828 | First Post Office built in Parramatta |
| 1828 | Work begins on Howell’s wind and water mill |
| 1832 | 13 February. The first King’s School opened at Harrisford House. |
| 1836 | January. The Second King’s School building completed above the weir North Parramatta. |
| 1839 | Lennox Bridge completed. |
| 1840 | Harvey’s Mill flour built and begins operations between 1840 and 1841. |
| 1840 | John Ireland and Issac Titterton proprietors of White Horse Hotel |
| 1841 | Byrnes Bros. Flour Mills erected. Later used as a cloth mill. |
| 1842 | Third Parramatta Gaol opens Clifford and Dunlop Streets |
| 1843 | Parramatta’s first newspaper “The Parramatta Chronicle” published. |
| 1843 | Second St. John’s Church opened |
| 1855 | 26 September. 1st Railway opened to Parramatta Junction near Granville. |
| 1856 | Dam at Lake Parramatta completed. |
| 1857 | Parramatta Park Created |
| 1859 | Parramatta Fire Brigade established. |
| 1860 | Parramatta Rifle Corps formed |
| 1860 | 4 July rail line extended to current Parramatta Station. |
| 1861 | November. Parramatta incorporated as a municipality. |
| 1863 | Ranleigh House built. |
| 1868 | Municipality styled a ‘Borough’. |
| 1870 | Parramatta Amateur Dramatic Society formed. |
| 1872 | Parramatta Gas Company purchased land on the Parramatta River. |
| 1872 | 19 May. Congregational Church building opened. |
| 1873 | Gas turned into town mains for first time. |
| 1881 | First Parramatta Council Chambers erected. |
| 1882 | Anderson Fountain erected. |
| 1883 | Parramatta Town Hall completed. |
| 1885 | The Leigh Memorial Church opens its door on Macquarie Street |
| 1888 | Foundation Stone of the Centennial Fountain laid. |
| 1888 | 15 September. Centennial Baths opened. |
| 1889 | 8 February. The King’s School new chapel opened. |
| 1890 | Friendly Societies form a Medical Institute. |
| 1900 | First motor car runs in Parramatta. |
| 1902 | Granville District Football Association formed. |
| 1908 | 2 December. New Friendly Societies Dispensary building opened. |
| 1910 | August. Sewerage scheme completed and taken over by Municipal Council. |
| 1911 | May. St. John’s Church Parish Hall opens. |
| 1911 | 4 November. Billy Hart’s Australia’s first aviator lands in Parramatta Park. |
| 1913 | Parramatta High School opens. |
| 1913 | 4 December. Parramatta and District Historical Society formed. |
| 1915 | Electric light used in town for first time. |
| 1915 | 23 February. New High School Building opened. |
| 1917 | 2 July. Nurse Dorothy Cawood saves patients at Messines and is first woman in Sydney to be awarded a Military Medal. |
| 1918 | 15 September. Foundation Stone Royal Gate, St John’s laid. |
| 1924 | 21 May. New Masonic Temple opened. |
| 1925 | New Presbyterian Church completed. |
| 1925 | Work begins on Parramatta’s first shopping arcade. |
| 1930 | 6 February. Roxy Theatre opens. |
| 1930 | Rivoli skating rink opens. |
| 1935 | Wishing Pool opens Parramatta Square. |
| 1936 | Granville Swimming Centre opens. |
| 1936 | 26 May. Third St. Patrick’s Church opened. |
| 1938 | 27 October. Parramatta proclaimed a City. |
| 1938 | Parramatta Grand Prix in Parramatta Park. |
| 1938 | 150 year celebrations. |
| 1938 | The Star Hotel, Parramatta Square opens. |
| 1947 | Parramatta District Leagues Club play their first season. |
| 1948 | December. First Greater City of Parramatta Council elected. (The Greater City of Parramatta was formed by the amalgamation of Dundas, Granville, Ermington, Rydalmere, and Parramatta) |
| 1948 | The first traffic light in NSW installed at Parramatta. |
| 1955 | The completed maternity unit opened at Parramatta Hospital. |
| 1956 | 11 December. Olympian Betty Cuthbert victory parade. |
| 1958 | Meals on Wheels service established. |
| 1958 | Children’s Library opened in Prince Alfred Park. |
| 1958 | A central library was established in Jubilee Hall within the Town Hall |
| 1958 | New Parramatta City Council Chambers opens a 2 Civic Place (now Parramatta Square) |
| 1959 | Opening of the Parramatta Leagues Club. |
| 1959 | 24 October. Parramatta War Memorial Swimming Centre opens. |
| 1959 | A branch library opened at Granville. |
| 1960 | The Queensland Insurance Building opens in Centenary Square. |
| 1961 | David Jones’s first suburban store opened. |
| 1961 | Miss Australia Tania Versak visits Parramatta |
| 1962 | Silverwater bridge opened. |
| 1964 | 28 November. Central Library Building opened. |
| 1975 | Westfield complex opened as the largest shopping complex in the southern hemisphere. |
| 1975 | Survey of historic buildings in the Parramatta CBD completed |
| 1975 | Barry Wilde Bridge Opens. |
| 1977 | 18 January. Granville Railway Bridge Disaster |
| 1978 | Westmead Hospital opened. |
| 1979 | Album “Canned Rock” recorded from three concerts held inside Parramatta gaol |
| 1981 | Macquarie House built. |
| 1981 | HMAS Parramatta Memorial unveiled. |
| 1988 | Bicentenary of Parramatta’s foundation. |
| 1988 | 50th anniversary of the declaration of Parramatta as a City. |
| 1988 | Position of Mayor of Parramatta raised by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to the status of Lord Mayor in recognition of Parramatta’s significance in the Greater Sydney metropolitan area. |
| 1988 | Opening of the Riverside Theatre complex in February. |
| 1989 | Archaelogical Management Plan of Parramatta CBD completed. |
| 1993 | Rivercat Service to Parramatta inaugurated in December. |
| 1998 | Opening of the Parramatta Heritage Centre. |
| 2006 | Opening of the new Parramatta Transport Interchange in February including the upgrading of the station and a new bus interchange. |
| 2008 | Opening of the new Justice Precinct in February. |
| 2010 | Old Government House and Parramatta Park, as well as ten other Australian sites with a significant association with convict transportation, were inscribed as a group on the World Heritage List as the Australian Convict Sites. |
| 2012 | Sydney Wanderers, Soccer League franchise launched. |
| 2013 | David Jones Building on Church Street demolished |
| 2015 | Library and Post Office in Civic Square demolished as a part of the Parramatta Square project. |
| 2015 | Council Works Depot moves to Rydalmere Operation Centre |
| 2016 | 12 May - NSW Local Government amalgamations. Parramatta City Council, Auburn City Council north of the M4 Western Motorway (including Sydney Olympic Park), and small parts of Hornsby Shire, Holroyd and The Hills Shire were merged into the reform "City of Parramatta Council". Parts of Auburn City Council (south of the M4 Western Motorway) and Parramatta City Council (Woodville Ward), and Holroyd City Council merged to form the Cumberland City Council as a new local government area. |
| 2019 | 15 April - Bankwest Stadium (renamed in 2021 Western Sydney Stadium or commercially known as CommBank Stadium) officially opened by then Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Minister for Sport John Sidoti |
| 2019 | 15 December - opening of the new Wentworth Point Community Centre and Library |
| 2021 | August - Willow Grove is deconstructed for Parramatta Powerhouse. Held in storage until suitable relocation site found. |
Geoff Barker, Research and Collection Services Coordinator, 2015