Bemboka facts for kids
Quick facts for kids BembokaNew South Wales |
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 Bemboka
Location in New South Wales
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| Population | 589 (2021 census) |
| Postcode(s) | 2550 |
| Location | |
| LGA(s) | Bega Valley Shire |
| State electorate(s) | Bega |
| Federal Division(s) | Eden-Monaro |
Bemboka is a small town located in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It sits on the Snowy Mountains Highway and is part of the Bega Valley Shire local government area. Bemboka is about 474 kilometres (295 miles) south of Sydney, the state capital. In 2021, the town had a population of 589 people.
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Discovering Bemboka's Landscape
The name Bemboka originally meant "High Peak" in an Aboriginal language. This makes sense because the town is surrounded by mountains and ridges. It's located at the eastern end of the Bega Valley.
Mountains and Forests Around Bemboka
Bemboka is about 25 kilometres (15 miles) from the base of Brown Mountain. This mountain is a part of the Great Dividing Range, a huge chain of mountains in Australia. The area around Bemboka is bordered by the beautiful South East Forests National Park. You can find cool natural features here like Indian Head, Pigeon Box, Bemboka Peak, and Numbugga Walls.
A Look Back at Bemboka's History
The first people to live in the Bemboka region were the Thaua people. They are a sub-group of the Yuin people, an Aboriginal nation.
Early European Settlement
European settlers started arriving in the area in the early 1800s. They were mostly "squatters," meaning they grazed sheep and cattle on land that wasn't officially theirs yet. The first people to buy land here did so in 1862. A school was opened on Brown Mountain in 1871.
How Bemboka Grew
Originally, there were two separate villages: Colombo and Lyttleton. They were quite isolated until a path on Brown Mountain was improved in 1889. This made it easier for vehicles to travel from the Monaro region down to the coast. Colombo was officially renamed Bemboka in 1894, and Lyttleton joined the village in 1923.
For a few years, from 1904 to 1911, Bemboka even had its own weekly newspaper called the Bemboka Advocate. The town was also where the Mumbulla Shire council offices were located from 1906 until 1981. That's when the Bega Valley Shire was created.
Who Lives in Bemboka?
According to the 2016 Census, there were 577 people living in Bemboka. Most people, about 81.5%, were born in Australia. Also, 89.9% of people spoke only English at home. When it came to religion, the most common answers were No Religion (36.2%), Catholic (18.1%), and Anglican (17.4%).
Bemboka's Economy and Local Businesses
The main industry in Bemboka has always been dairying, which means farming cows for milk.
Dairy and Other Industries
In the late 1800s, there were six different factories in the area making butter and cheese. Later, these were replaced by larger cooperative factories. The Bemboka Co-operative Factory stayed open until 1980.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the old cheese factory building was used by a company called Bemboka Handmade Paper Pty Ltd. They made high-quality handmade paper that was sold all over the world!
Famous Local Spots
Bemboka is special because it still has many of its old timber buildings. Some of the old stores on the main street are now used as homes. The original Bemboka Pie Shop, built in 1930, is still open today. It's a famous bakery and pie shop known for serving tasty food to travellers coming down from the mountains.
Forestry and Conservation
For a long time, woodchopping and logging were big industries in the state forests around Bemboka. However, in the late 1980s, people who wanted to protect nature worked to save the forests. This led to 15,300 hectares of land becoming the Bemboka National Park. In 1997, this area became part of the larger South East Forests National Park.
Bemboka's Strong Community Spirit
Even though Bemboka is a small town, its people are known for working together to achieve great things.
Community Projects and Events
From 1956 to 1967, the village ran its own weekly movie show. They used the school's projector to show films in the School of Arts Hall. They raised money to build the current Bemboka Memorial Hall. In the 1970s, the community raised funds through events like "housie nights" (a type of bingo) and catering to build a swimming pool in the town.
More recently, Bemboka has become famous for its "banquet." This is a community event organized by the Bemboka Show Society. In 2012, they served 150 guests a huge four-course dinner. What's amazing is that 90% of the food ingredients came from within 10 kilometres of the Bemboka Memorial Hall! The GlobalDoodle project, which is about global art, was also based in Bemboka.
