It is located 19 metres above sea level on the alluvial Hawkesbury River flats, at the foot of the Blue Mountains.

The area was originally explored by British settlers in 1789 and the nearby eminence to the west of the Hawkesbury River was known by them as 'Richmond Hill'.

The name was given by Governor Arthur Phillip, in honour of Charles Lennox, the third Duke of Richmond who was Master General of Ordnance in the Pitt administration.

Richmond was the fifth oldest area to have European settlement in Australia after Sydney, Parramatta, Kingston and Windsor.

One of the early settlers, James Blackman, built Bowman Cottage from brick nog, a common construction technique in the colony, using money borrowed from William Cox.

During the Vietnam War, logistic support and medical evacuations were supplied by the C-130 Hercules aircraft from RAAF Richmond.

Bells Line of Road which leads into, over and across the Blue Mountains, finishing in Lithgow, starts in Richmond.

Hawkesbury River is the main reason settlement happened in the Richmond area with boats and cruises.

Due to its inland location, Richmond has hotter summer days than Sydney CBD, with temperatures sometimes reaching highs of 42 °C (108 °F).

Richmond's extreme summer temperatures are also credited to föhn wind sweeping off the Central Tablelands down into the foothills of the suburb.

On 14 January 1939, Richmond recorded a temperature of 47.8 °C (118.0 °F), the highest in the Sydney region until a 2020 reading of 48.9 °C (120.0 °F) at Penrith.