This was the main early road, constructed by convict gangs, from Sydney north to Singleton in the Hunter Valley.

Some of the soldiers leaving the Army during an across-the-Empire downsizing in the wake of the Napoleonic wars bought land (sight-unseen) at Maroota, hoping to begin new lives as farmers.

They protested to the government that such barren sandy soil could never support them and their families, asking for replacement land to be granted to them elsewhere.

What these early men did not know was that at but a short depth below surface the Maroota Sand was rich in groundwater.

Later on, the land proved quite good and profitable for a variety of farming and orchard growing applications, and for limited grazing, once its true values and potential were realised.