Berrigan is a town on the

Riverina Highway Riverina Highway is a -long state highway located in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The road was constructed over several decades with final asphalt concrete sealing completed during the 1960s. Route The eastern terminus of ...

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 , e ...

, Australia. Berrigan is in the

Berrigan Shire Berrigan Shire is a local government area in the southern Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire lies on the New South Wales State border with Victoria formed by the Murray River. The Shire is adjacent to the Newell and Rive ...

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a state, province, division, or territory. The phrase i ...

and contains the Berrigan Shire Council offices. At the , Berrigan had a population of 1,260.

History

The earliest association with settlement in the area comes in 1849 through the agency of Momalong Station, where Robert Rand had settled some 22.5 thousand acres. The location of the town was formerly

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

land. The unfavourable location was chosen as the mail run from

Corowa Corowa is a town in the state of New South Wales in Australia. It is on the bank of the Murray River, the border between New South Wales and Victoria, opposite the Victorian town of Wahgunyah. It is the largest town in the Federation Council ...

to Murray Hut ran through Berrigan on much the same location as the present

, and the road from

Jerilderie Jerilderie is a small, rural town in the southern Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the Murrumbidgee Local Government Area. At th Jerilderie had a population of 922 people. It can be found along the Newell Highway s ...

lies on the same route now as it did back then. The Berrigan Post Office opened on 11 May 1884. In 1888, the first hotel - Berrigan Hotel - was built on the intersection of the two main roads through to town, with other stores rapidly following along Chanter Street. This hotel still stands today, although it is now a private residence. Other hotels include the Momalong Hotel, also now a private residence, and the Federal Hotel and Royal Hotel, both still active. Berrigan was officially proclaimed on 31 May 1890, and this only increased the establishment of the commercial section of the town, as well as the residential. The population in 1891 had reached 254, which more than doubled by Federation. The railway officially opened in late 1896, being the first pioneer

light railway A light railway is a railway built at lower costs and to lower standards than typical "heavy rail": it uses lighter-weight track, and may have more steep gradients and tight curves to reduce civil engineering costs. These lighter standards allow ...

in the colony. The first issue of the Berrigan Advocate was published on Friday, 23 October 1891. The paper eventually merged with the Finley Mail and Tocumwal Guardian & Riverina Stock Journal, becoming the Southern Riverina News in 1970.

Climate

Berrigan experiences a subtropical semi-arid climate (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

: ''BSh'', Trewartha: ''BSak''); with hot summers and cool winters; and moderately low precipitation year round. The highest temperature recorded at Berrigan was on 1st of February 1968; the lowest recorded was on 10th of July 1965. The average annual rainfall is .

Involvement in federation

Because of its location near the border with

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seyche ...

, Berrigan was one of the pioneers in the push for an Australian

Federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governing ...

. It was at the suggestion of the Berrigan

Australian Natives' Association The Australian Natives' Association (ANA) was a mutual society founded in Melbourne, Australia in April 1871. It was founded by and for the benefit of native-born white Australians and membership was restricted exclusively to that group. The A ...

that the first meeting of the Federation League was held. Due to its centrality, the meeting was held in

. Australian Parliament House website - Senate publications
Brian de Garis ''How Popular was the Popular Federation Movement''

Education

Berrigan has a state primary school, with the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

primary school having closed at the end of 2020. The nearest high school is in Finley, to the west. Oaklands has a Central School, that is a part of the Riverina Access Partnership.

Sport

Popular sports in Berrigan include

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

(the town has a team competing in the

Picola & District Football League The Picola & District Football Netball League is an Australian rules football and netball league affiliated with the AFL Victoria Country. The league covers a large area of northern Victoria and southern New South Wales from Shepparton in th ...

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping w ...

bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a bowling green, which may be flat (for "flat-gre ...

, and

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

Horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

is also popular, with the Berrigan Gold Cup — held on the same day as the

Victoria Derby The Victoria Derby, also known as the Penfolds Victoria Derby, is a Victoria Racing Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held under Set Weights conditions over a distance of 2,500 metres at Flemington Racecourse, in Melbourn ...

— attracting a large crowd.

Other attractions

Held annual on the Sunday of the October long week is the Berrigan Agricultural Show, which has been in existence for over 120 years. The annual Show & Shine is held in January. A major event previously held in the town was the annual Canola Festival, celebrating the importance of canola to the region. Although this event has since ceased, canola is still an important part of the landscape. It is also close to the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest ...

communities of Barooga and

Tocumwal Tocumwal ( ) is a town in the southern Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Berrigan Shire local government area, near the Victorian border. The town is situated on the banks of the Murray River, north of the city of Melbourne ...

. Located between Berrigan and Barooga is ' The Drop', which is Australia's first

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

power station on an

irrigation canal An acequia () or séquia () is a community-operated watercourse used in Spain and former Spanish colonies in the Americas for irrigation. Particularly in Spain, the Andes, northern Mexico, and the modern-day American Southwest particularly ...

, the

Mulwala Canal The Mulwala Canal is an irrigation canal in the southern Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest irrigation canal in the Southern Hemisphere. The canal, starting at Lake Mulwala, diverts water from the Murray River acro ...

. The power station had a generating capacity of 2.5 MW of electricity. BerriganFederalHotel2

Once a thriving town with four

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

s and the golf club, it has since been reduced to two pubs and the club. The aging population is well catered for in such a small town, with world class hospice and respite facilities provided. While the town thrives on the farming income generated in the district, it is a very modern, and family-friendly town. In 2013, an Alzheimer's wing was opened, catering to the numerous residents suffering from the disease. The localities of Boomanoomana and Mount Gwynne are about 30 km. south. Berrigan Bushdrovers 2004

Nearby towns

* Finley * Barooga *

* Oaklands *

Cobram Cobram is a town in the Australian state of Victoria. It is on the Murray River which forms the border between Victoria and New South Wales. Cobram along with the nearby towns of Numurkah and Yarrawonga is part of Shire of Moira and is the ...

Mulwala Mulwala (locally , elsewhere also ) is a town in the Federation Council local government area in the Riverina district of New South Wales, Australia. The town is situated on Lake Mulwala, an artificial lake formed by the damming of the Murray ...

*Savernake

References

External links

Berrigan Railway StationBetter In BerriganBerrigan Shire CouncilBerrigan NSW
{{authority control Towns in Berrigan Shire Towns in the Riverina Towns in New South Wales