Population 479 (2011 census) LGA(s) Hilltops Council Postal code 2587 | Postcode(s) 2587 State electorate(s) Cootamundra Federal division Division of Riverina | |
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Weather 26°C, Wind W at 11 km/h, 64% Humidity | ||
Murrumburrah is a township in New South Wales, Australia, part of a twin town with Harden. The town is in Hilltops Council local government area in the South West Slopes area of NSW. It is on the Burley Griffin Way, the major link from the Riverina to the Hume Highway near Yass, and ultimately Sydney, Canberra and the coast. At the 2011 census, Murrumburrah had a population of 479.
The name probably comes from Wiradhuri murrimboola, which can reasonably be translated to "two waterholes".
History
Before European settlement the Harden area was inhabited by the Wiradjuri people. Hume and Hovell passed nearby in 1824. In the late 1820s, the 'Murrumburra' was established. Its superintendent, James Kennedy, established an inn on the townsite in the late 1840s. Gold was found in the area in the 1850s. In mid-1872 a traveller made the following comments about Murrumburrah, "a small township on the road to Lambing Flat":
Murrumburrah has two churches, a school, three hotels, the same number of stores, and a good steam flour mill. The Roman Catholic Church is a fine stone building on a hill above the town, and looks very picturesque; the Wesleyan Chapel is a small wooden building. The principal hotels are Mr. Murphy’s and Mr. Dillon’s. The former owns the flour mill, a good brick building, three stories high. It may be mentioned that a good deal of wheat is grown in the district.
A railway station was opened one km east of Murrumburrah on the Main Southern line in 1877 as Murrumburrah station, but changed its name to Harden station, the year after the opening of a new station in Murrumburrah in 1879. Harden has remained as the main station and, as a result, became the main town.