Coolah is a town in the central western part 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 Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Warrumbungle Shire The Warrumbungle Shire is a local government area in the central western region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire is traversed by the Newell Highway. The Warrumbungle mountain range and Warrumbungles National Park are major tourist attra ...

. At the

2016 census Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17 *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * ''Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film dir ...

, Coolah had a population of 1,290. CC-BY icon

Material was copied from this source, which is available under
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
. The name Coolah is derived from the

Port Jackson Pidgin English Port Jackson Pidgin English or New South Wales Pidgin English is an English-based pidgin that originated in the region of Sydney and Newcastle in New South Wales in the early days of colonisation. Stockmen carried it west and north as they expand ...

word meaning "angry".

Geography

On the northeastern side of the area is the

Liverpool Range The Liverpool Range is a mountain range and a lava-field province in New South Wales, Australia. The eastern peaks of the range were the traditional territory of the Wonnarua people. Geography The Liverpool Range starts from the volcanic plate ...

with the

Coolah Tops National Park Coolah Tops is a national park located in New South Wales, Australia, northwest of Sydney, established on 5 July 1996. It is managed by the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service. Its World Conservation Union category is II. It i ...

. Most of the region is agricultural with sheep and cattle raising and crops grown along the

Talbragar River Talbragar River, a perennial stream that is part of the Macquarie catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the Orana district of New South Wales, Australia. The river rises on the western side of the Liverpool Range on south s ...

and

Coolaburragundy River Coolaburragundy River, a perennial stream that is part of the Talbragar catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the Orana district of New South Wales, Australia. The river rises on the south-western slopes of the Liverpool ...

valleys.

History

Coolah was initially the lands of the Wiradjuri and Kamilaroi People. It is said the valley was often used as a meeting ground between peoples of the two nations. The area was also the home to King Togee a legendary leader of his people. His gravesite is on the Neilrex Road to the west of Coolah. The Coolah area was first colonised by British pastoralists in the late 1830s. A

Border Police A border guard of a country is a national security agency that performs border security. Some of the national border guard agencies also perform coast guard (as in Germany, Italy or Ukraine) and rescue service duties. Name and uniform In diff ...

barracks was established at Coolah around 1840 under Graham Douglas Hunter who was the Commissioner for Crown Lands for the Bligh District. Coolah Post Office opened on 1 January 1849. The town was served by a branch railway from March 1920 until May 1975.

Cadbury Schweppes Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Mars ...

introduced a citrus-flavored energy drink in the US in 2006 named

Coolah Energy Solo is an Australian, lemon-flavoured, carbonated soft drink currently manufactured under license by Asahi Breweries. First launched by Tarax in 1968 and fell to cadbury after a takeover in 1974 its lemon flavour is inspired by Australian pubs ...

. The text on the packaging for this product refers to the Australian Cadbury Schweppes product

Solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...

as its inspiration, along with the lifestyle of the inhabitants of the town of Coolah. Coolah is the location of the first Australian memorial commemorating The

Battle of Long Tan The Battle of Long Tan (18 August 1966) took place in a rubber plantation near Long Tân, in Phước Tuy Province, South Vietnam, during the Vietnam War. The action was fought between Viet Cong (VC) and People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) units ...

. A total of 18 trees were planted along Coolah's Vietnam Memorial Avenue, one for each Australian soldier killed during the battle.

Heritage listings

Coolah has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * 74 Binnia Street:

Old Police Station and Courthouse The Old Police Station and Courthouse is a heritage-listed former police station and courthouse located at 74 Binnia Street, Coolah, in the Warrumbungle Shire, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by the Colonial Architect of New South ...

Population

In the 2016 Census, there were 1,290 people in Coolah. 83.0% of people were born in Australia and 87.7% of people spoke only English at home. The most common responses for religion were Anglican 39.6%, Catholic 20.1% and No Religion 17.4%.

Sport

The Coolah Kangaroos formerly competed in the

Castlereagh Cup The Castlereagh League (also known as the Castlereagh Cup) is a rugby league competition in western New South Wales, Australia, run under the auspices of the Country Rugby League. For all intents and purposes the competition is effectively the ...

until the 2000s. Prior to this they also played in the

Mid West Cup The Mid West Community Cup is a rugby league competition in the Central West area of New South Wales. The premiers are awarded the Blayney Citizens' Cup, the oldest continuously awarded trophy in Country Rugby League, with Neville the first rec ...

. The club still fields junior teams in the

Group 14 Rugby League The Castlereagh League (also known as the Castlereagh Cup) is a rugby league competition in western New South Wales, Australia, run under the auspices of the Country Rugby League. For all intents and purposes the competition is effectively the G ...

competition, alongside netball teams.

People

* Richard Butler (born 1942), public servant *

Lisa Messenger Lisa Messenger (born 1971) is an Australian entrepreneur and author. She is the owner and creative director of marketing for The Messenger Group, a book publishing company. As well as the founder and Editor in Chief of Collective Hub. Backgroun ...

, entrepreneur and author *

Gary Scully Gary Scully (1933–2011) was a Walkley award-winning Australian journalist and foreign correspondent. Early life Born in Sydney on 7 September 1933, Gary Vincent Scully was the son of Doris (''née'' Bunyan) and Vincent Scully, a World W ...

, journalist and foreign correspondent

References

{{authority control Towns in New South Wales Warrumbungle Shire