Narromine

History

The town name comes from a pastoral property, which in turn came from an Aboriginal word for 'honey person'.

The first European to visit the district was John Oxley who traced the course of the Macquarie River in 1818.

The Main West railway line extension between Dubbo to Nevertire, which included Narromine was officially opened on 20 October 1882. The town was established after the railway opened, the first structures in the town being the railway platforms. The township was gazetted in 1883, and the railway station opened on 1 May 1883. It was renamed to its current spelling in October 1889. Narramine Post Office opened on 20 October 1882 and was renamed Narromine in 1900. The village of Narramine was proclaimed in 1885, and numerous buildings followed, including the police station built in 1890, the store (1890) and the Royal Hotel (1890). A bridge over the Macquarie River was built in 1897. After federation, the population of Narromine was 2,228 in the 1911 census, and in 1947 the population was 1,816.

Floods

In late March 1926, Narromine experienced its biggest flood since 1893, with the Macquarie River peaking at 50 feet (15 m) at 5 am on 27 March. Narromine was isolated due to floodwaters cutting roads, telephone lines and the railway line. A large area of country around the town was covered in water. Very little damage was reported. In the floods of April 1990, the river peaked at Narromine at a record 15.93 metres (52.3 ft).

Personalities

The town of Narromine has produced several success stories, most recently sports personalities Glenn McGrath (Australian cricket team: Fast bowler ), Melinda Gainsford-Taylor (Sprinter: Commonwealth Games medalist), Disney animator Adam Phillips and Justin Smith (rugby league: North Queensland Cowboys). Other notable sportsmen to represent Australia at the International level include David Gillespie (Australian Rugby League) and David Jansen (International Gliding Championships).

Sporting teams

Narromine is heavily involved in regional sport. As a result of Narromine's proud sporting heroes this town has a great involvement in a number of different sports.

In Rugby League, Narromine is represented by the Narromine Jets in the Group 11 Country Rugby League competition. Narromine has had a significant amount of success in this competition. Particularly, in 2002/2003 when their U18's took out the Group 11 competition with relative ease. The team defeated Dubbo Cyms in the 2002 grand final after completing the regular season undefeated. In 2003 the team lost only one game before defeating Dubbo Macquarie Raiders in a one sided affair.

The town also boasts a successful Rugby Union team known as the Narromine Gorillas. Founded in 1982, the Gorillas have been a major force across the central competitions and currently compete in the Blowes Clothing Cup. The first grade side won their most recent premiership in 2009 defeating the Bathurst Bulldogs in the grand final, and also registered three straight minor premierships from 2009-2011. As well as seniors and women's teams, the Gorillas has a fantastic junior rugby program with U/13's, U/15's and U/17's teams, plus sub-juniors.

Parish of Narromine

The parish of Narromine is a cadastral parish in the county of Narromine. The parish extends from the eastern boundary of Narromine township going east till Minore. The township of Narromine is actually within the Parish of Wentworth, named after William Wentworth, prominent colonial politician, who owned land in Narromine Parish.

Military History

During World War 2, Narromine was the location of RAAF No.18 Inland Aircraft Fuel Depot (IAFD), completed in 1942 and closed on 14 June 1944. 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).