Barellan is a small town in

Narrandera Shire Narrandera Shire is a local government area in the Riverina region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Shire is located adjacent to the Sturt and Newell Highways. The present Narrandera Shire was formed on 1 January 1960 by an am ...

in the

Riverina The Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation ...

region of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. On Census night 2021, Barellan had a population of 276. It is a quiet Riverina wheat town on the

Burley Griffin Way Burley Griffin Way is a New South Wales state route, is located in south eastern Australia. Named after the American architect Walter Burley Griffin, designer of the cities of Canberra and Griffith, the road links these two cities via Yass a ...

, with characteristic silos, and functions primarily as a service centre for the surrounding agricultural area.

History

The name of Barellan is an Aboriginal expression which literally means the meeting of the waters. The railway reached Barellan in 1908 and a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...

was opened on 1 April 1909. The Commercial Hotel, "a typically large and rather gracious hotel with an impressive upper verandah", was built in 1924. Barellan was also the first town to have a

Country Women's Association The Country Women's Association (CWA) is the largest regional and rural advocacy group in Australia. It comprises seven independent State and Territory Associations, who are passionate advocates for country women and their families, working ...

(CWA) rest house, built in 1924, the same year as the hotel. In 2009, Barellan celebrated its centenary.

Demography

Until recently, the population numbers have remained relatively constant, evidenced as follows:

Heritage listings

Barellan has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Yapunyah Street:

CWA Rest House CWA Rest House is a heritage-listed Country Women's Association rest house at Yapunyah Street, Barellan, Narrandera Shire, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by George William Welch and built in 1924. It is also known as Country Wome ...

Evonne Goolagong

Barellan is notable as the childhood home of the tennis-player

Evonne Goolagong Evonne Fay Goolagong Cawley (née Goolagong; born 31 July 1951) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. Goolagong was one of the world's leading players in the 1970s and early 1980s. At the age of 19, she won the French Open sing ...

(now Evonne Goolagong Cawley). There is a small plaque honouring her in the main street. Evonne Goolagong was born in nearby Griffith on 31 July 1951 and attended Barellan Primary School. Although Aboriginal people faced widespread discrimination in rural Australia at this time, Evonne was able to play tennis in Barellan from childhood thanks to Bill Kurtzman, a kindly resident, who saw her peering through the fence at the local courts and encouraged her to come in to play. Goolagong left Barellan to attend

Willoughby Girls High School Willoughby Girls' High School (WGHS) is a Public school (government funded), public, Secondary school, secondary, day school for girls, located in Willoughby, New South Wales, Willoughby, a Lower North Shore (Sydney), lower North Shore suburb of ...

in Sydney where she developed her tennis-playing skills.

The Big Tennis Racquet

A long replica of a

tennis racquet A racket, or racquet, is a sports implement used for striking a ball or shuttlecock in games such as squash, tennis, racquetball, badminton and padel. In the strictest sense a racket consists of a handled frame with an open hoop across which a ...

used by Evonne Goolagong has been built in Evonne Goolagong Park. Goolagong unveiled the exact scale model of the wooden Dunlop racquet during Barellan's centenary celebrations on 3 October 2009.

Barellan Central School

Barellan has a central school that goes from kindergarten to year 12 and has 100 enrolled students. Barellan is part of the RAP (Riverina Access Partnership) which allows the year 11 and 12 students to complete their HSC. It comprises students from Hillston Central, Ardlethan Central and Ariah Park Central in video conferencing. In 2010, Oaklands Central and Urana Central Schools entered the Partnership and has a local light bulb collector that gets old fluorescent tubes .Riverina Access Partnership
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Football

The Barellan Rams compete in the

Group 17 Rugby League Group 17 is a rugby league competition based in the Riverina and Central West regions of New South Wales, Australia. The competition collapsed in 2006 and reformed in 2018 as the Western Riverina Community Cup with six teams. The season runs ...

competition. They were

Clayton Cup The Clayton Cup is a trophy that was awarded by the Country Rugby League to the NSW country rugby league team with the best overall record for that season. To be eligible, the team must win the highest level of competition in its region. Usually t ...

winners as the best local team in the state in 1999 and 2002. The Barellan "Kangaroos" competed in the

Central Riverina Football League The Central Riverina Football League was a minor Australian rules football competition which ran from 1949 until 1981 in the Riverina region of New South Wales. The league contained a number of historic clubs, many of which no longer exist. Histor ...

from 1973 to 1981, then joined the

Riverina Football League The Riverina Football Netball League (RFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing nine clubs based in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The league features three grades in the Australian rules footbal ...

in 1982, but were relegated to the

Riverina District Football League The Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation ...

in 1983, after finishing on the bottom. In 1984, the Riverina District Football League changed it's name back to the

Farrer Football League The Farrer Football Netball League (FFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing nine clubs based in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The league features three grades in the Australian rules footba ...

and Barellan competed in this league from 1984 to 1992, when they joined the

Northern Riverina Football League The Northern Riverina Football Netball League (NRFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing five clubs based in the northern Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The league features four grades in the Aust ...

in 1993 and had a great run of success with senior football premierships in - 1994, 95, 96, 97, 98 and 2011. The Barellan "Two Blues" re-joined the

in 2015.

Gallery

File:BarellanEvonneGoolagongPark2.JPG, Evonne Goolagong Park, Barellan File:Big Tennis Racquet Barellan 2009-10-03.JPG, Big Tennis Racket prior to unveiling, 3 October 2009, Barellan File:BarellanCommercialHotel2.JPG, The Commercial Hotel at Barellan File:Barellan Train Station Sign 001.JPG File:Barellan Train Station Sign 002.JPG File:Barellan Train Station Sign 003.JPG

References

External links

Barellan Public SchoolBarellan Railway Siding
{{authority control Towns in the Riverina Towns in New South Wales Narrandera Shire