Drake is a parish and small rural community on the

Bruxner Highway Bruxner Highway, and its former alignment as Bruxner Way, are a state highway and rural road respectively, located in New South Wales, Australia. The route forms an east–west link from the Northern Rivers coast, across the Northern Tablelands ...

approximately 44 km east of

Tenterfield, New South Wales Tenterfield is a regional town in New South Wales, Australia. At the , Tenterfield had a population of 4,066. Tenterfield's proximity to many regional centres and its position on the route between Sydney and Brisbane led to its development as a ...

and about 800 km north of Sydney, New South Wales. It is in the

Tenterfield Shire Tenterfield Shire is a local government area located in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire is situated adjacent to the New England Highway. The mayor of the Tenterfield Shire Council is Cr. Bronwyn Petrie, an una ...

local government area, which is part of the

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

region. At the 2016 census, Drake had a population of 345 people. The town is in West Fairfield Parish of

Drake County Drake County is one of the 141 Cadastral divisions of New South Wales. Drake County was named in honour of Sir Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( – 28 January 1596) was an English explorer, sea captain, privateer, slave trader, ...

New South Wales

History

In 1858 gold was discovered near Newmans Pinch, a hill on the western side of Fairfield (now Drake) and

Timbarra Berwick () is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's central business district, located within the City of Casey local government area. Berwick recorded a population of 50,298 at the 2021 census. It was named ...

and quite a few years later

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

was also mined in the vicinity. The ''Timbarra'' Post Office opened on 1 November 1858, was renamed ''Drake'' in 1867 and closed in 1871. The later Drake office opened on 1 April 1879 and closed in 1985. During the 1860s the first sale of Drake allotments took place with 16 of the 40 lots being sold. The Public School opened in November 1887. The Australian

Antimony Antimony is a chemical element with the symbol Sb (from la, stibium) and atomic number 51. A lustrous gray metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite (Sb2S3). Antimony compounds have been known since ancient t ...

Co. began mining here in 1872, with Drake as their community centre.Donald, J. Kay, Exploring the North Coast and New England, Kangaroo Press, Kenthurst, 1987 Between 1872 and 1890 Drake was a thriving mining and timber town with 14 hotels, a town band, and many private dwellings, plus a number of businesses including a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, gr ...

, post office and stores. A weekly

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

run was established to run from Tenterfield to Casino in 1885. The town also served as a stopping point for

bullock team An ox-wagon or bullock wagon is a four-wheeled vehicle pulled by oxen (draught cattle). It was a traditional form of transport, especially in Southern Africa but also in New Zealand and Australia. Ox-wagons were also used in the United States. T ...

s, drovers and settlers passing between inland and coastal regions. The original police station and house is near the cemetery, but is privately owned. There is a new Rural Transaction & Resource Centre. St Peter the Apostle Anglican Church (former) has been placed on the Register of the National Estate. The community is agricultural, timber and tourist based providing hiking, fishing and fossicking etc.

Population

In the 2016 Census, there were 345 people in Drake. 70.8% of people were born in Australia and 81.7% of people spoke only English at home. The most common response for religion in Drake was No Religion at 46.5%.

References

* ''Call of the Highlands (The Tenterfield Story) 1828-1988'', Ken Halliday, Southern Cross Printery, Toowoomba, c. 1988

External links

Drake CemeteryNorthern Rivers Geology Blog - Drake
{{authority control Towns in New England (New South Wales) Mining towns in New South Wales