Dangar Island is a charming, traffic free, natural hideaway on the Hawkesbury river, rich in European and Indigenous history.

Quietly tucked away on the Hawkesbury River, between Little Wobby and Brooklyn, Dangar Island is a bit of a hidden paradise, with a small and friendly population of around 300 lucky residents. The island covers an area of around 29 hectares, with a 3 kilometres long shoreline. Connected to electricity in 1948 and to water in 1971, the island now boasts a cafe and shop, a bowling club and a community hall. Dangar island is also the only residential island on the Hawkesbury River. Private cars are not allowed on the island, which explains the abundance of wheelbarrows used to carry goods from the ferry wharf onto the island. There is also a buggy service available, managed by the local community.

Before white settlement, Dangar Island was known as a gathering place for Guringai Aborigines for thousands of years. Evidence of their history still remains visible in engravings and rock shelters on the island. Governor Arthur Phillip was the first European to visit the area in March 1788 and named it Mullet island because of the large quantity of mullet he caught there. In 1864, Dangar Island was purchased and renamed by Henry Cary Dangar, a prominent politician who later became a member of the Upper House of New South Wales.

Henry Cary Dangar leased the island to the New York based Union Bridge Company during the construction of the Hawkesbury River Rail Bridge between 1886 and 1889. A community of around 400 Americans lived on the island, which was then home to a social hall, a library, and a school. During the Second World War, Army and Navy personnel used Dangar Island as a base to protect the railway bridge from potential Japanese attacks.