The Geographical Names Board of New South Wales acknowledges Penrith as one of only four cities within the Greater Sydney metropolitan area.

They lived in makeshift huts called gunyahs, hunted native animals such as kangaroos, fished in the Nepean River, and gathered local fruits and vegetables such as yams.

Early British explorers such as Watkin Tench described them as friendly, saying, "they bade us adieu, in unabated friendship and good humour".

Tench later wrote 'we found ourselves on the banks of a river, nearly as broad as the Thames at Putney and apparently of great depth'.

Phillip later named the river after Evan Nepean, the under-secretary of state in the Home Office, who had been largely responsible for the organisation of the First Fleet.

[citation needed] Its placement seems to have been a practical decision by Cox, placing it on flood-free Crown land on the new road to Parramatta, just east of Woodriff's Rodley Farm.

Governor Lachlan Macquarie paid Cox £200 for 'erecting a Depot for Provisions, Guard House, erecting necessary Enclosures for cattle and Garden Ground, Frame for a Well ... on the new near Emu Ford'.

There is no historical evidence to prove Macquarie's hand in naming the depot, especially considering he often endowed and recorded benefactors with that favour.

No documentary evidence has shed any light on Macquarie's reasoning for the placement of this depot and its connection with his vision for a township at Castlereagh.

[citation needed] By 1819, the name Penrith was in use with its first reference in the Sydney Gazette on 8 December 1821 appointing John Proctor as keeper of the new gaol and court house.

[citation needed] The lockup at Penrith placed government law and order in the centre of the Evan district.

This group of buildings became the point of contact for local administration for anything ranging from issuing publican's licences, holding inquests and church services.

In 1824, Sir John erected the colony's finest Georgian mansion, Regentville House, near Penrith, on a ridge overlooking the Nepean River.

Sir John established an agricultural estate at Regentville and became a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council.

The first bridge, financed by local businessman James Tobias (Toby) Ryan[7] was opened over the Nepean in 1856 and was washed away the following year in a flood.

The NSW Government announced funding for the construction of the M9 in the 2014 state budget[12][13] to connect Camden, Penrith and Windsor.

Named after opera singer Joan Sutherland, the building was designed by architect Philip Cox and opened in 1990.

Penrith's Junior Rugby League competition is the largest in the world, which also incorporates teams from the Blue Mountains, Blacktown and Windsor/Richmond areas.

The team had a 2–1 win against Sydney FC in a home game friendly match in front of 5000 fans on 17 August 2007.

[42] In 2013, James te Huna left EFG to establish a rival MMA centre in St Marys named Bee Stingz (located at Valley Fitness).

With the sale of Vintage FM, and My88 leaving the 88.0 band to go online, Penrith is no longer served by a local radio station.

The Board includes in its official description the area of Kingswood Park, Lemongrove and North Penrith, which the Council considers separate suburbs.