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Cootamundra
New South Wales
Cootamundra Building A 004.jpg
The CBC bank building and post office on Wallendoon St
Cootamundra is located in New South Wales
Cootamundra
Cootamundra
Location in New South Wales
Population 6,700 (2016 census)
Established 1861
Postcode(s) 2590
Elevation 318 m (1,043 ft)
Location
LGA(s) Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council
County Harden
State electorate(s) Cootamundra
Federal Division(s) Hume
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall
22.4 °C
72 °F
7.7 °C
46 °F
593.7 mm
23.4 in

Cootamundra, nicknamed Coota, is a town in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia and within the Riverina. It is within the Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council. At the 2016 Census, Cootamundra had a population of 6,782. It is located on the Olympic Highway at the point where it crosses the Muttama Creek, between Junee and Cowra. Its railway station is on the Main Southern line, part of the Melbourne-to-Sydney line.

Cootamundra is the birthplace of Sir Donald Bradman AC, an Australian cricketer universally regarded as the greatest batsman of all time. It is also known for being the site of Cootamundra Domestic Training Home for Aboriginal Girls, an institution housing Aboriginal girls who were forcibly taken from their families.

It is also the home of the Cootamundra wattle. Every year there is a large "Wattle Time" Festival held at the time the wattle starts to bloom, with an art show and festivities.

History

Cootamundra Bradman's Birthplace Museum 003
Birthplace of Sir Donald Bradman

The earliest people to live in the area where present day Cootamundra exists are considered to be the tribe of Wiradjuri, with the name probably deriving from their word guudhamang for "turtle".

Cootamundra Parker Street 001
Parker St, the main street of Cootamundra

Cootamundra was incorporated as a township on 9 August 1861, and the first settlers bought their lots in early 1862. Like many other towns in the Riverina, it was originally populated by those attracted by the gold rush of the 1860s, but became a quiet yet prosperous agricultural community after the local deposits were exhausted.

The town's rugby league team competed in the Maher Cup.

Timeline

  • 1847 - Cootamundra Run, a large stock run, is the first colonist settlement in the area.
  • 1861 - The site of Cootamundry is published in the NSW Government Gazette
  • 1862 - Gold mining commences at the nearby Muttama Reef mine.
  • 1864 - The first church (Anglican) and post office are established.
  • 1875 - The first school in the district opens
  • 1877 - Cootamundra's railway connection opens on 1 November.
  • 1884 - Cootamundra is first gazetted as a municipality
  • 1896 - Cootamundra Cycling Club. It is probably the oldest continual club in NSW, although as was the case with most clubs it went into recess during the war years.
  • 1908 - Donald Bradman (later Sir Donald Bradman) is born in Cootamundra.
  • 1911 to 1968 - Cootamundra Domestic Training Home for Aboriginal Girls forcibly taken from their families
  • 1942 - On 3 December, the corvette HMAS Cootamundra, named for the town, is launched.
  • 1952 - Name of Cootamundry officially changed to Cootamundra
  • 1955 - The first Cootamundra Annual Classic cycling handicap race, one of the oldest open races in NSW.
  • 1956 - Cootamundra's rugby league football club's Bill Marsh is first selected to play for the Australian national team.
  • 1960 - Cootamundra's Australian Football club is established.
  • 1982 - In November 1982, the aviation company Masling Industries was formed. This was restructured in June 1993 after the unfortunate death of the owner.
  • 1986 - Popular Australian singer/songwriter/bush poet John R Williamson released his song 'Cootamundra Wattle'.
  • 2015 - Australian youth radio station Triple jjj featured the 'Cootamundra bonus weather rap'
  • 2000 - The first annual beach volleyball competition begins. Truckloads of sand are trucked into the main street for Coota Beach (play on words for Kuta Beach in Bali, Indonesia).
  • Australian rugby league Kangaroos player Lee Ryde grew up representing the Group 9 Cootamundra Bulldogs local team.
  • 2015 - Luke Barry Donnellan becomes the first Syrian national to win the prestigious Best Dressed award at the annual Cootamundra Cup.

In popular culture

  • Leonard Hubbard recorded the song "Cootamundra" in 1924.

Transport

Cootamundra railway station is located on the Main Southern railway line, with passengers served in each direction by twice daily NSW TrainLink XPT railway services between Sydney and Melbourne, and the weekly Xplorer railway services to Griffith. Interstate freight trains also pass through the town.

Regional Rail Logistics previously operated a containerised freight service from Junee to Sydney stopping in the town,


Preceding station TfNSW T.png NSW TrainLink Following station
Junee
toward Griffith or Melbourne
NSW TrainLink Southern Line
Griffith Xplorer
Melbourne XPT
Harden
toward Sydney

TrainLink coaches

Cootamundra acts as a hub for coach services, run by Transport for NSW, to other regional centres with departures and arrivals timed to connect with certain New South Wales XPT train arrivals. The exception is Services 704/703 (coloured row), provided for those who have business in Canberra civic, the major hospitals, or to connect with the Canberra–Sydney rail service (three trains per day both directions).

Seats are allocated and must be booked ahead. must be consulted for conditions of travel and coach stop locations. On-line booking and more information

Destination/s Other stops Service # Frequency Return # Frequency Notes
Condobolin see timetable 717 Daily 718 Daily
Tumbarumba see timetable 723 Tue/Thu/Sun 724 Tue/Thu/Sun
Griffith, Hay, Mildura see timetable 725 Daily 726 Daily ~20 min. refreshment stop at Hay
Yass Junction, Canberra, Queanbeyan see timetable 782 Daily 781 Daily ~15 min. stop at Yass Junction. Wheelchair access
Parkes, Dubbo see timetable 791 Mon/Wed/Sat 792 Sun/Tue/Thu Wheelchair access
Orange, Bathurst see timetable 793 Tue/Thu/Fri/Sun 794 Mon/Wed/Fri/Sat
Major stop on route: Wagga Wagga–Cootamundra–Canberra–Queanbeyan see timetable 704 Tue/Thu/Sat (morning) 703 Tue/Thu/Sat (evening) currently (2019) a trial service, trial timetable, Wheelchair access

Airport

Cootamundra Airport, is one of the oldest country airports outside of Mascot to be continually licensed.

From 1991 to 2002 local business Country Connection Airlines offered regional flights from Cootamundra to Sydney, as well as to many other regional locations such as West Wyalong, Cowra, Forbes and Young.

Military History

During World War 2, Cootamundra was the location of RAAF No.3 Inland Aircraft Fuel Depot (IAFD), completed in 1942 and closed on 14 June 1944. It was located in an area of land near the intersection of Olympic Highway and Thompson Street. Usually consisting of 4 tanks, 31 fuel depots were built across Australia for the storage and supply of aircraft fuel for the RAAF and the US Army Air Forces at a total cost of £900,000 ($1,800,000).

Preceding station   NSW TrainLink   Following station
Template:CountryLink stations
toward Template:CountryLink stations
Template:CountryLink lines
Griffith Xplorer
Melbourne XPT
Template:CountryLink stations
toward Template:CountryLink stations


Notable people

  • Isaac Smith (30 December 1988) - premiership winning player for Hawthorn Football Club in the AFL
  • Paul Beath (born 1968)- represented the Canberra Raiders and Manly Sea Eagles in the NRL
  • Les Boyd (born 17 November 1956) - former professional rugby league player, represented Australia and New South Wales in the State of Origin
  • Philip Lowe (born 1961/1962) - Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, moved to Cootamundra aged 5.
  • Sir Donald Bradman AC (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), an Australian international cricketer, born in Cootamundra
  • Bob Holder, rodeo champion
  • Billy Murdoch (18 October 1854 – 18 February 1911), an Australian cricketer who captained the Australian national side in sixteen Test matches between 1880 and 1890
  • Hubert Leslie Primrose (1880–1942), solicitor and politician
  • Ethelbert Ambrook Southee (1890–1968), college principal

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