Harden–Murrumburrah is a town and community in the Hilltops Region and is located in the

South West Slopes The South Western Slopes, also known as the South West Slopes, is a region predominantly in New South Wales, Australia. It covers the lower inland slopes of the Great Dividing Range, extending from north of Dunedoo through central NSW and into ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Harden is adjacent to both the

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

region of the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

and the

Riverina The Riverina () is an agricultural list of regions in Australia, region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, a climate with significant seaso ...

Region in the southwest area of NSW. The town is a twin town between Harden and Murrumburrah (which is noted as one of the earliest European immigrant settlements in the southwest of

). The town is traversed by the Burley Griffin Way, the major link from and between the Riverina and the Hume Highway near Yass, and ultimately

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and the coast. Cunningham Creek runs along the edge of the town. The

Olympic Highway Olympic Highway is a rural road in the Central West, New South Wales, central western and Riverina, south-eastern Riverina regions of New South Wales, Australia. It services rural communities, links Hume Highway with Mid-Western Highway, and ...

traverses the western end of the shire and is the major link through the central west to the Blue Mountains and from there to the Sydney region. Harden is 3½ hours away by road from Sydney, and 1½ hours from

and

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 57,003 as of 2021, it is an important agricultural, m ...

History

Before European settlement the Harden area was inhabited by the

Wiradjuri The Wiradjuri people (; ) are a group of Aboriginal Australian people from central New South Wales, united by common descent through kinship and shared traditions. They survived as skilled hunter-fisher-gatherers, in family groups or clans, a ...

people. Hume and Hovell passed nearby in 1824. In the late 1820s, the 'Murrumburra' was established. Its superintendent, James Kennedy, established an inn on the townsite in the late 1840s. Gold was found in the area in the 1850s. Harden railway station was opened one km east of Murrumburrah on the Main Southern line in 1877 as Murrumburrah, but changed its name to Harden a year after the opening of a new station in Murrumburrah in 1879. Harden has remained as the main station and, as a result, became the main town. A post office at Harden was opened on 1 January 1870, and in 1926 £2000 of funding was secured to provide extensive improvements to the ageing facility. The first Australian Lighthorse was also founded in Harden–Murrumburrah, with the Lighthorse festival occurring annually. From 1906 until 2016 Harden–Murrumburrah was the seat of its own local council, but was amalgamated in 2016 to form

Hilltops Council Hilltops Council is a local government area in the South Western Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia. This area was formed on 12 May 2016 from the merger of Boorowa Council, Harden Shire and Young Shire. The local government area cove ...

. The town's

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

team, the Harden-Murrumburrah Hawks, competed for the Maher Cup, and continue to compete in senior football today in the George Tooke Shield. In 1996, a trust was formed through the last

will and testament A will and testament is a legal document that expresses a person's (testator) wishes as to how their property (estate (law), estate) is to be distributed after their death and as to which person (executor) is to manage the property until its fi ...

of Geoffrey Kruger, a retired dental surgeon who had lived in the town for much of his life, the Kruger Trust was intended to fund improvements to the town itself. The trust has funded key infrastructure in the town, such as a medical centre and a community country club. Harden is also home to Murrumburrah High School, which was established in 1977 and is currently the only secondary education facility for the town.

Facilities

Harden boasts a variety of facilities servicing residents from both Harden, Murrumburrah and surrounds. * Harden-Murrumburrah & District War Memorial Pool; containing a 50-metre Olympic swimming pool as well as two smaller wading pools. * Harden Post Office * Hilltops Council Library Harden Branch located inside the Trinity Centre. * Kruger Medical Centre, a healthcare facility with general practitioners providing healthcare for chronic disease management, as well as family medicine, women's health and mental health. * Murrumburrah High School; a secondary education facility. * Murrumburrah-Harden Health Service, a small hospital facility with 33 beds including 13 hospital care beds and 20 residential aged care beds. The facility sits under the Murrumbidgee Local Health District.

Climate

Harden experiences a climate typical of the

, with a large seasonal variation throughout the year. Under Koppen it is classified as a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''Cfa'') with warm to hot summers and cool, cloudy winters. On rare occasions it may snow. Temperature data were collected from 1967 until 1980, and rainfall from 1886 until 2006.

Heritage listings

Harden has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Main Southern railway: Harden railway station

Population

According to the 2016 census of population, there were 2,030 people in Harden. Material was copied from this source, which is available under
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
At the 2021 census, this had dropped to 1,900 people. * Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 8.7% of the population. * 84.6% of people were born in Australia and 90.7% of people only spoke English at home. * The most common responses for religion were Catholic 31.3%, No Religion 24.9% and Anglican 24.6%.

Transport

The Main Southern railway line passes through Harden. It became an important

railway town A railway town, or railroad town, is a settlement that originated, or was expanded, as a result of a railway line being constructed there. North America During the construction of the First transcontinental railroad in the 1860s, temporary, ...

with the line to Blayney branching off a few kilometres beyond Harden at Demondrille. Harden railway station is served by two daily

NSW TrainLink NSW TrainLink is a regional train and coach operator in Australia, providing services throughout New South Wales and into Australian Capital Territory, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria (state), Victoria, Queensland and South Australia ...

XPT services between

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and

in each direction and the twice weekly Xplorer service between

Griffith Griffith may refer to: People * Griffith (name) * Griffith (surname) * Griffith (given name) Places Antarctica * Mount Griffith, Ross Dependency * Griffith Peak (Antarctica), Marie Byrd Land * Griffith Glacier, Marie Byrd Land * Griffith Ridge, ...

and Sydney. NSW TrainLink trial road coach services 703 and 704 between

and

via

Cootamundra Cootamundra, nicknamed Coota, is a town in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia and within the Riverina. It is within the Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council. At the 2016 Census, Cootamundra had a population of 6,782. I ...

pass through Harden, but as at September 2019 do not pick up or drop off passengers there. Busabout Wagga Wagga have a depot in the town.Harden Depot School Bus Services
Busabout Wagga Wagga

Gallery

File:Harden National Australia Bank 001.JPG, Harden National Australia Bank File:Mechanics Institute Harden.JPG, Harden Mechanics Institute File:Harden Post Office 001.JPG, Harden Post office File:Royal Hotel Harden.JPG, Royal Hotel File:Grand Hotel Harden.JPG, Grand Hotel Harden File:Harden Doncaster Hotel 001.JPG, Harden Doncaster Hotel File:Harden Carrington Hotel 005.JPG, Harden Carrington Hotel File:Harden Methodist Church 002.JPG, Former Harden Methodist Church File:Harden Roman Catholic Church 003.JPG, Harden Catholic Church File:Harden Trinity Centre 003.JPG, Harden Trinity Centre File:Harden Shire Council Office 002.JPG, Hilltops Council Office File:Bill the Bastard 2.jpg, "Bill the Bastard" File:Harden stone 2.jpg, Town sign

Notes

External links

Hilltops Council

Hilltops Region Visitor Information

Harden-Murrumburrah Website (Archived)
{{authority control Towns in New South Wales Harden Shire Hilltops Council Mining towns in New South Wales