the explorers charles throsby and joseph wild travelled through the yass river valley in 1820. the aborigines called the valley "candariro" which means "blue crane". this name might be the meaning of the word gundaroo. governor lachlan macquarie gave the first europen settler, peter cooney, 30 acres in 1825. other farms were started quickly with about 400 people in the 1840s. the harrow inn (hotel) was built in 1834. a post office was built in 1848 and an anglican church, st lukes in upper gundaroo (now part of a pottery business), in 1849. the first school opened in 1850 and a police station in 1852. when gold was discovered in the area in 1852 many more people came to the town.