The Harden­Murrumburrah Historical Society Museum

 

Harden-Murrumburrah (including Kingsvale, Galong and Wallendbeen)
Important railway town in south west New South Wales
Harden-Murrumburrah is located on Murrimboola Creek 342 km west of Sydney and 62 km north-west of Yass via Burley Griffin Way. It is 416 m above sea-level. The separate names are misleading as they form, in reality, one town. The population is currently 2130.

Scenic Harden shire produces wheat, oats, triticale, canola, lupins, mustard oil seed and fruit such as nashi pears, cherries, strawberries, peaches, nectarines, prunes and apricots. Contributions to the local economy are also made by an abattoir, a dairy, large grain-storage silos, sheep, cattle and horse studs, pigs, deer, ostriches and some vineyards.

Prior to white settlement the area was utilised by the Wiradjuri people. European settlement of the district began after Hamilton Hume's exploration in 1824. A sheep station known as 'Murrumburra' was established in the late 1820s.

James Kennedy, superintendent of the 'Murrumburra' run, opened an inn around the late 1840s which was the first authorised business to be conducted on the townsite.

Gold was discovered a few kilometres to the north-west of the present townsite in 1854 but serious prospecting didn't begin until 1856. At this time Kennedy wrote to the government to interest them in the establishment of a townsite.

A settlement was gazetted in 1858 as Murrimboola (Aboriginal for two waterholes). This was changed c.1880 to Murrumburrah.

A mail service began in 1860 and a flour mill soon followed. The first school was established in 1862-63 and St Mary's Roman Catholic Church was built in 1868. The larger runs of the district were broken up in 1879. In the course of the 1870s the population increased dramatically from 182 to 1620.

Until 1880 Harden was known as Murrumburrah North (the name change was a decision of the postmaster general). It had become an important rail centre when the railway station was built there in 1877. By the outset of the 20th century Harden's commercial centre had outstripped that of Murrumburrah. It continued to prosper until the Great Depression when larger locomotives negated the need for crew and engine changes at Harden.

The Agricultural Show is held in September, an art-and-craft show in October, the Picnic Races in November and 'The Best of the Bush' Festival in March.

Harden-Murrumburrah has an 18-hole golf course, tennis courts and an Olympic pool. There are also shady parks with picnic areas and a caravan park.

Things to see:  

Tourist Information
Which Craft and Coffee Cottage in Albury St sells local crafts and dispenses tourist information, tel: (02) 6386 2343.

 

Historical Museum
The Harden-Murrumburah Historical Museum is situated within the old School of Arts building in Albury St. Displays include a blacksmith's and wheelwright's premises (1874 - c.1940), historic garments from 1880, the impressive Harden railway refreshment room bar, made of oak and brass, plus railway memorabilia and artefacts, a chemist's shop exhibition with items dating back to 1890, a music room, an early Australian kitchen with paraphernalia, a vintage bathroom and thunderbox, a child's bedroom and a photographic collection. It is open weekends and public holidays for a small fee.

 

Historic Buildings of Murrumburrah
Murrumburrah was declared an historic village in 1990 and it certainly has an olde-world feel as though time has stood still since the 1950s.

The Murrumburrah courthouse (1880), at the corner of Albury and Vernon Sts, is a two-storey brick building with single-storey wings. Decorative elements include quoins and arched windows.

The foundation stone of St Mary's Catholic Church was laid in 1868. It was extended in 1895-96 with granite for the tower quarried at Demondrille (3 km north-west of Murrumburrah) and carted to the site by bullock and horse teams. It lies at the end of Clarke St but is best accessed by taking the railway footbridge at the end of Vernon St. St Mary's Convent was opened in 1892 with additions in 1902 and 1933. It closed in the mid-1980s.

The public school is at the corner of Albury and Ward Sts and St Paul's Anglican Church, at the corner of Iris and Swift Sts, was built between 1875 and 1884.

 

Harden's Historic Buildings
The distinctive CBC Bank (now the National Bank) in Neill St is a single-storey Federation building erected c.1905 of brown brick with an unusual slate-clad hipped and gabled roof featuring terracotta ridge-capping. There are stained-glass fanlights and sidelights, a detailed facade and entry porch with pediment.

The Methodist Church in Albury St (between Lucan and Stair Sts) was erected in 1890 with additions in 1900 and 1933. It is now the local scout hall.

 

Shops
Watt's On is an antiques and collectables shop at 318 Albury St, Murrumburrah. It is housed in a corner of the old Bank of NSW building.

The West End Gift Shop is located at 328 Albury St, tel: (02) 6386 2555.

 

Parks
Newson Park, next to the pool in Albury St, Harden, has lawn areas, picnic-barbecue facilities and playground equipment. Coddington Park, at the other end of Albury St, next to Murrimboola Creek, is an informal setting with picnic tables, playground equipment and a paddling area for youngsters beneath the willow trees.

 

Demondrille Winery
Demondrille Winery is located north-west of Murrumburrah on Prunevale Rd (a back road to Young), tel: (02) 6384 4272.

 

Kingsvale
Kingsvale, 15 km north-north-west of Murrumburrah, is a production centre for the shire's stone fruit industry. It is named after the first-known European settlers, the King family. The King property was acquired by the government in 1919 and subdivided as part of the soldier settlement scheme.

Petal Falls is a family orchard producing cherries, apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums and prunes from November to early April. There are also preserves, jams, mustard seed oils and gifts. Visitors can inspect the entire process.

JGC Prunes offers door sales of dried and vacuum-packed prunes, prune spread, prune juice, prune honey and canned dessert prunes. Visitors are welcome in season and by appointment out of season.

 

St Mark's, Currawong
10 km north of Murrumburrah is the locality of Currawong which has a very handsome bluestone church completed in 1919.

 

Wallendbeen
Wallendbeen, with a present population of 168, is 17 km north-west of Murrumburrah on the Olympic Highway. Wallendbeen station, taken up by Alexander Mackay, had several brushes with Ben Hall's bushranging gang. A Mr Barnes was shot to death near the Mackay home while fleeing John O'Meally and John Vane in 1863 and, six weeks before Hall was killed in 1865, the gang held the cook and a visiting piano tuner in the dining room of the homestead while they stole three horses.

The village was laid out after the railway arrived in 1877. Today wheat, triticale, canola and mustard seed are grown locally, along with large numbers of sheep and cattle. There is also a deer farm.

Yandilla has direct sales of mustard seed oil, dry mustard, a mustard massage oil and snail deterrent. Visitors are welcome and guided tours can be organised by appointment with morning and afternoon tea available, tel: (02) 6943 2516.

 

Galong
Galong, 24 km south-east (2 km off Burley Griffin Way), is at the centre of a major grain-producing area. There is also a limestone quarry just outside the village which has about 150 residents and sits at an elevation of 510 m.

The town's walled cemetery is included on the Register of the National Trust. It is well-signposted. Interments date back to 1854. The cemetery features some fine monuments in marble and sandstone, some the work of Frank Rusconi (see entry on Gundagai).

St Clement's Monastery, clearly signposted from the village, was built as the home of town pioneer Ned Ryan who was transported to Australia as a convict in 1816. He moved to Galong in the 1830s after obtaining his ticket-of-leave and is buried in the local cemetery.

The fine St Lawrence Retirement Hostel was built in 1910 as a convent run by the Sisters of Mercy. It later served as a boarding school. Visitors are welcome. It is situated adjacent an old Catholic Church (1902) with an unusual wooden bellcote.

 

 

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Harden