Newbridge village developed around the railway line and station which was built in 1876. The station was called Back Creek, however, the post office which opened two months later in the same year was called Duramana.

To avoid confusion with Duramana on the other side of Bathurst, and potentially reflecting the large number of Irish settlers in the area or the opening of a pedestrian overhead bridge built at the station, the station, post office and village were named Newbridge.

Former long time resident and store keeper Brian Bennett remembered it as a "very busy centre, all livestock and produce would be brought to the railway for transport to the Sydney markets: wheat, barley, potatoes, peas, turnips, hay, anything marketable that was grown locally. Produce was coming from as far away as Tuena. as there was no southern railway line. The drovers brought stock to the railway, and other goods came by horse and cart or horse and cattle wagons."

Newbridge in its heyday boasted 2 schools, several hotels. cricket, football and rifle clubs, as well as a racecourse where races were  regularly held that included female jockeys.