Inverell facts for kids
Quick facts for kids InverellNew South Wales |
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Inverell Court House, built in 1886
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 Inverell
Location in New South Wales
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| Population | 12,057 (2021 census) | ||||||||
| Established | 1856 | ||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 2360 | ||||||||
| Elevation | 582 m (1,909 ft) | ||||||||
| Location |
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| LGA(s) | Inverell Shire | ||||||||
| County | Gough | ||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Northern Tablelands | ||||||||
| Federal Division(s) | New England | ||||||||
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Inverell is a large town in northern New South Wales, Australia, situated on the Macintyre River, close to the Queensland border. It is also the centre of Inverell Shire. Inverell is located on the Gwydir Highway on the western slopes of the Northern Tablelands. It has a temperate climate. In the 2021 census, the population of Inverell was 12,057 and the Inverell Shire population was 17,853.
Contents
History
In 1848, Alexander Campbell held the 50,000-acre (20,000 ha) Inverell Station on the Macintyre River. The name derives from the name of Mr. MacIntyre's estate. The word is of Gaelic origin, and signifies "meeting place of the swans"; from "Inver", a meeting place, and "Ell", a swan. The MacIntyre River and Swanbrook Creek join here. The area was also known as "Green Swamp" in the 1850s. Wheat growers, Colin and Rosanna Ross established a store there in 1853, when he asked that a town be surveyed. In 1858 this was done and in the following years the plan was approved and the first land sale was held. Byron Post Office (open since 1855) was replaced by the Inverell Post Office on 15 September 1859. The municipality was proclaimed in March 1872. The last section of the Inverell branchline, from Delungra to Inverell, was opened on 10 March 1902. The last train ran to Inverell on 22 June 1987, and the Delungra to Inverell section of the line was closed on 2 December 1987. In 1871, the population of Inverell was 509, this increased to 1,212 in 1881. After Federation, the population of Inverell was 1,230 in 1911, and grew to 6,530 (1947) and 8,209 (1961 census).
Mining
Diamonds were discovered at Copes Creek in 1875 and were mined at Copeton from 1883-1922. Commercial sapphire mining was commenced in 1919 at Frazers Creek near Inverell. Rich alluvial deposits in streams were worked initially by hand miners but there was little recorded production up until approximately 1960.
Heritage listings
Inverell has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
- 56 Byron Street: Inverell Shire Council Building
- 97 Otho Street: Inverell Post Office
- Flepper Place
Population
| Historical population | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 1921 | 4,369 | — |
| 1933 | 5,305 | +21.4% |
| 1947 | 6,530 | +23.1% |
| 1954 | 7,514 | +15.1% |
| 1961 | 8,209 | +9.2% |
| 1966 | 8,413 | +2.5% |
| 1971 | 9,712 | +15.4% |
| 1976 | 9,432 | −2.9% |
| 1981 | 9,734 | +3.2% |
| 1986 | 9,693 | −0.4% |
| 1991 | 9,736 | +0.4% |
| 1996 | 9,378 | −3.7% |
| 2001 | 9,525 | +1.6% |
| 2006 | 9,749 | +2.4% |
| 2011 | 9,347 | −4.1% |
| 2016 | 9,547 | +2.1% |
| 2021 | 9,654 | +1.1% |
| Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics data. | ||
According to the 2016 census of Population, there were 11,660 people in Inverell.
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 9.5% of the population.
- 86.0% of people were born in Australia. The most common other countries of birth were Philippines 1.4% and England 1.2%.
- 89.8% of people spoke only English at home.
- The most common responses for religion were Anglican 28.8%, Catholic 22.9% and No Religion 20.2%.
Industry
The Inverell district is in a fertile agricultural region which produces a wide range of crops, including wheat, barley, oats, sorghum, wine grapes and maize. There are also some mining activities with tin, sapphires, zircons and diamonds (mainly industrial) being found. Inverell is known as the "Sapphire City" because of the sapphires that have been found throughout the local district, which contributed a significant amount of Australia's sapphire production in the 1970s.
Copeton Dam, the region's main water supply, was completed in 1976. While being smaller than Sydney Harbour, it can hold nearly 2 times the capacity of Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour). The Inland Fishing Festival is held there every year.
Culture and tourism
The Grafton to Inverell Cycle Classic is an annual one day cycling race. Beginning in Grafton, passing through Glen Innes and finishing in Inverell, the Classic is a 230 km ride over the demanding Gibraltar Range. The race starts at 23 metres above sea level and climbs to 1260 metres, before finishing in Inverell at 630 metres. The race is six to seven hours long, depending on weather conditions. Inverell is home to the Bruderhof, an Anabaptist community who share all their possessions. They run a publishing business.
The National Transport Museum comprises more than 120 vehicle exhibits ranging from vintage, veteran, classic and motorcycles in a purpose-built structure on Rifle Range Road.
Inverell is the last place in Australia to have a Coles New World supermarket. It has resisted external pressure to rename the supermarket since the early 90s.
Education
There are two primary schools in Inverell; Ross Hill School and Inverell Public School. The two local high schools are Inverell High School and Macintyre High School. Holy Trinity School is a Roman Catholic School in Inverell which caters for students from Kindergarten to Year Ten.
Transport
Inverell is served by Inverell Airport.
Inverell lies on the Gwydir Highway, one of the primary east–west routes through New South Wales. Thunderbolts Way terminates at Copes Creek, 16 km south of the Gwydir Highway intersection at Inverell.
Bus services in Inverell are provided by Inverell Bus Service, which operates two town loops, to the east and west. Interurban bus service is provided by Symes Coaches to Glen Innes.
NSW TrainLink operates three Coach services in and out of Inverell: between Moree and Grafton, between Inverell and Tamworth via Manilla and between Inverell and Armidale via Tingha.
Sports
The most popular sport in Inverell is Rugby league. The local team are the Inverell RSM Hawks, who compete in the Group 19, playing out of Varley Oval. The club has won six first grade titles in the competition and its predecessor, Group 5, with the last coming in 2016. The club has produced numerous National Rugby League players, including Owen Craigie and Phil and Chris Bailey.
Other sports teams include the Inverell Highlanders RUFC and Inverell Saints AFC.
Climate
Inverell, like most of the North West Slopes features a textbook subtropical climate with a marked summer peak in rainfall. The town is located on the boundary region between the cool, wet Northern Tablelands of the Great Dividing Range and the hot, dry plains of Outback New South Wales, having climate characteristics of both regions.
The highest maximum temperature recorded at Inverell was 43.7 °C (110.7 °F) on 4 January 1903 at the Inverell Comparison site. The lowest maximum temperature for any of the Inverell weather sites was 3.0 °C (37.4 °F) on 3 July 1984 at Inverell Research Centre. In September 1892, the town had its biggest snowfall, with 4 to 5 inches (10 to 13 cm) falling. On 5 August 1923, snow fell in parts of the Inverell district.
| Climate data for Inverell Research Centre (1949–2020); 664 m AMSL; 29.78° S, 151.08° E | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 41.1 (106.0) |
41.3 (106.3) |
35.7 (96.3) |
32.1 (89.8) |
27.4 (81.3) |
25.6 (78.1) |
23.0 (73.4) |
31.9 (89.4) |
32.1 (89.8) |
36.2 (97.2) |
39.2 (102.6) |
41.5 (106.7) |
41.5 (106.7) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 29.7 (85.5) |
28.9 (84.0) |
27.1 (80.8) |
23.6 (74.5) |
19.3 (66.7) |
15.8 (60.4) |
15.2 (59.4) |
16.7 (62.1) |
20.0 (68.0) |
23.2 (73.8) |
26.0 (78.8) |
28.4 (83.1) |
22.8 (73.1) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 16.4 (61.5) |
16.3 (61.3) |
14.5 (58.1) |
11.0 (51.8) |
7.5 (45.5) |
4.9 (40.8) |
3.6 (38.5) |
4.4 (39.9) |
7.0 (44.6) |
10.3 (50.5) |
12.8 (55.0) |
15.1 (59.2) |
10.3 (50.6) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 6.5 (43.7) |
6.2 (43.2) |
3.4 (38.1) |
−0.3 (31.5) |
−3.5 (25.7) |
−5.5 (22.1) |
−5.0 (23.0) |
−4.3 (24.3) |
−2.0 (28.4) |
−1.0 (30.2) |
2.7 (36.9) |
5.7 (42.3) |
−5.5 (22.1) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 99.1 (3.90) |
93.9 (3.70) |
69.8 (2.75) |
40.2 (1.58) |
47.9 (1.89) |
45.5 (1.79) |
47.9 (1.89) |
44.4 (1.75) |
48.3 (1.90) |
75.8 (2.98) |
87.0 (3.43) |
98.9 (3.89) |
800.6 (31.52) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2mm) | 9.8 | 8.4 | 6.9 | 5.6 | 6.0 | 7.0 | 7.3 | 6.6 | 6.6 | 9.2 | 9.3 | 9.9 | 92.6 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 279.0 | 245.8 | 260.4 | 237.0 | 201.5 | 180.0 | 195.3 | 248.0 | 258.0 | 279.0 | 267.0 | 279.0 | 2,930 |
| Climate data for Inverell Comparison (1874–1997); 584 m AMSL; 29.78° S, 151.11° E | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 43.7 (110.7) |
41.7 (107.1) |
41.1 (106.0) |
33.9 (93.0) |
29.4 (84.9) |
25.6 (78.1) |
24.2 (75.6) |
29.4 (84.9) |
32.8 (91.0) |
36.7 (98.1) |
39.4 (102.9) |
41.9 (107.4) |
43.7 (110.7) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 30.6 (87.1) |
29.8 (85.6) |
27.8 (82.0) |
24.1 (75.4) |
19.7 (67.5) |
16.2 (61.2) |
15.3 (59.5) |
17.2 (63.0) |
20.5 (68.9) |
24.0 (75.2) |
27.4 (81.3) |
29.7 (85.5) |
23.5 (74.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 15.3 (59.5) |
14.8 (58.6) |
12.4 (54.3) |
7.8 (46.0) |
3.7 (38.7) |
1.2 (34.2) |
−0.2 (31.6) |
0.5 (32.9) |
3.5 (38.3) |
7.6 (45.7) |
11.1 (52.0) |
13.8 (56.8) |
7.6 (45.7) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 2.8 (37.0) |
2.2 (36.0) |
1.5 (34.7) |
−4.3 (24.3) |
−7.5 (18.5) |
−10.0 (14.0) |
−10.6 (12.9) |
−9.4 (15.1) |
−7.2 (19.0) |
−6.7 (19.9) |
−1.7 (28.9) |
1.5 (34.7) |
−10.6 (12.9) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 98.7 (3.89) |
83.4 (3.28) |
65.1 (2.56) |
43.3 (1.70) |
47.9 (1.89) |
49.7 (1.96) |
50.8 (2.00) |
44.4 (1.75) |
48.5 (1.91) |
67.7 (2.67) |
73.9 (2.91) |
90.6 (3.57) |
765.8 (30.15) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2mm) | 8.7 | 7.5 | 6.6 | 5.2 | 5.7 | 6.7 | 7.0 | 6.6 | 6.4 | 7.9 | 8.0 | 8.6 | 84.9 |
| Source: Australian Bureau of Meteorology; Inverell Comparison | |||||||||||||
Over the years, Inverell has had three weather stations run by government astronomers (prior to 1908) or the Bureau of Meteorology (after 1908), or both. These stations are:
- Inverell Comparison (began observations in 1874, ceased observations in November 1997)
- Inverell Research Centre (began observations in 1949, still operational; converted to an Automatic Weather Station in recent years)
- Inverell (Raglan Street) (began observations in March 1995, still operational; observations done by human observer)
Notable people
Notable people from or who have lived in Inverell include:
.JPG)
- Chris Bailey (born 1982), rugby league player
- Phil Bailey (born 1980), former professional rugby league player
- Owen Craigie (born 1978), former rugby league player
- Lucien Lawrence Cunningham (1889–1948), Farmer and politician
- Steve Elkington (born 1962), golfer, 1995 US PGA Champion.
- Susan Hampton (born 1949), poet, winner of the Judith Wright Award
- Heinrich Haussler (born 1984), cyclist
- Peter Hewat, former rugby union player
- George Kneipp (1922–1993), a judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland in Townsville, Queensland (1969–1992)
- Colin Madigan (1921–2011), architect
- Rick McCosker (born 1946), cricketer and Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1976
- Leon Punch (1928–1991), former Deputy Premier of New South Wales
- Ivan Sen (born 1971), filmmaker
- Leo Senior (1887–1975), former rugby league player
- Scott Sunderland (born 1966), former cyclist.
- John Williams (born 1955), NSW Nationals Senator
- Bronwyn Oliver, née Gooda (1958–2006), Sculptor. Considered one of Australia’s most significant artists. Works commissioned for private, public and corporate spaces and held in the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria and Art gallery of NSW.
See also
In Spanish: Inverell para niños
