Muswellbrook ( ) is a town in the Upper

Hunter Region The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, Newcastle Region, or simply Hunter, spans the region in northern New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River (New Sout ...

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 ...

, about north of

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 north-west of

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

. Geologically, Muswellbrook is situated in the northern parts of the

Sydney basin The Sydney Basin is an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, interim Australian bioregion and is both a structural entity and a depositional area, now preserved on the east coast of New South Wales, Australia and with some of its ...

, bordering the

New England New England is a region consisting of 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 ...

region. The area is predominantly known for coal mining and horse breeding, but has also developed a reputation for gourmet food and wine production. As of the 2021 census Muswellbrook has a population of 12,272. Located to the south of the Muswellbrook township are two coal fuelled power stations, Liddell (closed in 2023) and Bayswater. They were commissioned in 1973 and mid 1980s respectively and employ approximately 500 people from the area. The Muswellbrook Coal Mine operated from 1907 to 2022, and is scheduled for a 135 MW solar facility with a 270 MWh / 135 MW grid battery. A 400 MW / 3,200M Wh (8-hour) pumped hydro project may operate by 2030.

History

Before European settlement of the region the Wonnarua and Gamilaroi peoples occupied the land. The first European to explore the area was Chief Constable John Howe in 1819, with the first white settlement occurring in the 1820s. The township of Muswellbrook was

gazette A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers ...

d on 23 October 1833. To the south, "Forbestown" was established by the sons of Francis Forbes in 1842; the name was changed in 1848 to "South Muswellbrook" to prevent confusion with the town of

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

Heritage listings

Muswellbrook has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * 7 Bridge Street: Muswellbrook Post Office *132 Bridge Street: Weidmann Cottage * 142–144 Bridge Street: Loxton House * 178, 180–188 Bridge Street: Eatons Group * 710 Denman Road: Edinglassie * Denman Road: Rous Lench * Hunter Terrace: St Alban's Anglican Church * Main Northern railway:

Muswellbrook railway station Muswellbrook railway station is a Heritage register, heritage-listed railway station located on the Main Northern railway line, Main Northern line in Muswellbrook, New South Wales, Muswellbrook, New South Wales, Australia. The station serves t ...

Etymology

"Mussel Creek" (now called "Muscle Creek") was first named by a party of surveyors who found

mussel Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and Freshwater bivalve, freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other ...

s in the small stream while camping along its banks in the early 19th century. The present spelling of Muswellbrook has a disputed etymology. Historians largely subscribe to one of two theories: # that the name derives from the

Muswell Hill Muswell Hill is a suburban district of the London Borough of Haringey, north London. The hill, which reaches over above sea level, is situated north of Charing Cross. Neighbouring areas include Highgate, London, Highgate, Hampstead Garden ...

area of London (England), due to the influence of Sir Francis Forbes whose wife, Amelia, was born and schooled in that town; or # that the name is a gradual corruption of the original gazetted name "Musclebrook", eventually adopted as the official spelling due to common use.

Population

According to the 2021 census of Population, there were 12,272 people in Muswellbrook. * Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 13.1% of the population. * 84.7% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were New Zealand 1.5%, England 1.0% and Philippines 0.9%. * 86.9% of people only spoke English at home. * The most common responses for religion were No Religion 35.6%, Anglican 23.0%, and Catholic 20.2%.

Transport

The

New England Highway New England Highway is an long highway in Australia running from Yarraman, Queensland, Yarraman, north of Toowoomba, Queensland, at its northern end to Hexham, New South Wales, Hexham at Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle, New South Wales, ...

currently passes through the town. A route was selected for a bypass in 2006 but the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...

suspended the project in August 2008. Denman Road provides a connection to the

Golden Highway Golden Highway (also known as Mitchells Line of Road at its eastern end) is a highway, located in the Hunter and Orana regions of New South Wales, Australia. It runs eastwards from Dubbo towards Newcastle on the coast, allowing road transpo ...

Rail

Muswellbrook railway station is served by local (Newcastle to Scone) and long-distance rail (Sydney to Armidale and Moree) services. Interstate coaches and local bus services also call at the station. Muswellbrook lies at the junction of the Main Northern railway line and the Merriwa line, part of a cross country rail line to Gulgong. As such, it formed an important junction, as well as serving the numerous coal mining sidings found within a short distance from the main station building.

Popular culture

The

Steely Dan Steely Dan is an American rock band formed in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, in 1971 by Walter Becker (guitars, bass, backing vocals) and Donald Fagen (keyboards, lead vocals). Originally having a traditional band lineup, Becker and Fagen cho ...

song "Black Friday" from the 1975 album '' Katy Lied'' contains the lyrics:

"When Black Friday comes, I'll fly down to Muswellbrook, gonna strike all the big red words from my little black book. Gonna do just what I please, gonna wear no socks and shoes, with nothing to do but feed all the kangaroos."

Songwriter

Donald Fagen Donald Jay Fagen (born January 10, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and musician who is the co-founder, lead singer, co-songwriter, and keyboardist of the rock band Steely Dan, formed in the early 1970s with musical partner Walter Becker ...

explained the lyrics in an interview with

Paul Cashmere Paul Cashmere is an Australian entrepreneur, broadcaster, music journalist and media executive. In 1995 he founded the digital music CD-ROM magazine, ''Undercover'', with Australian photographer and domestic partner, Ros O'Gorman (1960–2018) ...

of Undercover Music; "I think we had a map and put our finger down at the place that we thought would be the furthest away from New York or wherever we were at the time".

Donald Horne Donald Richmond Horne (26 December 1921 – 8 September 2005) was an Australian journalist, writer, social critic, and academic who became one of Australia's best known public intellectuals, from the 1960s until his death. Horne was a proli ...

spent his early childhood in Muswellbrook and the first volume of his autobiography, ''The Education of Young Donald'', features an extensive description of life in the town in the 1920s and early 1930s. Muswellbrook is also mentioned in Thomas Keneally's book ''The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith''. Muswellbrook also features prominently in the Robert G Barrett novel, "The Tesla Legacy".

Annual events

* Blue Heeler Film Festival * Muswellbrook Carnivale * Muswellbrook and Upper Hunter Eisteddfod * Muswellbrook Creative Arts Fair * NAIDOC Week Art Awards * Rock'n The Brook * The Muswellbrook Show * Noisy Heerler Music Festival (October) * St Heliers Heavy Horse Field Days

Media

Television

All major digital-only television channels are available in Muswellbrook. The networks and the channels they broadcast are listed as follows: * Seven (formerly

Prime7 Prime7, formerly Prime Television and other names, was an Australian Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. Prime Television launched on 17 March 1962 as ''CBN (Australian TV station), CBN-8'' in Orange, New South Wales, Ora ...

and Prime Television), 7two,

7mate 7mate is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Seven Network on 25 September 2010. The channel contains sport and regular programs aimed primarily to a male audience, with programming drawn from a c ...

7Bravo 7Bravo is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Seven Network under license from NBCUniversal International Networks on 15 January 2023. The channel contains programming from NBCUniversal's Americ ...

7flix 7flix is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Seven Network on 28 February 2016. 7flix targets a variety of viewers and offers drama, comedy, reality, docusoap, and movies. History On 18 Decembe ...

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

owned and operated channels. *

Nine 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Hindu–Arabic digit Circa 300 BC, as part of the Brahmi numerals, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bot ...

( NBN),

9Go! 9Go! is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Nine Network on 9 August 2009, replacing Nine Guide. It is a youthful channel that offers a mix of comedy, reality, general entertainment, movies, anima ...

9Gem 9Gem is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, launched by the Nine Network in September 2010. The channel provides general entertainment and movie programming, from which the original name "GEM" is derived. History The la ...

and

9Life 9Life is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel owned by Nine Entertainment. The channel airs mostly foreign lifestyle and reality programs, with the channel having a licensing agreement with Discovery Inc. (previously Scr ...

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

owned and operated channels. * 10 (

WIN Television WIN Television is an Australian television broadcasting, Australian television network owned and operated by WIN Corporation that is based in Wollongong, New South Wales. WIN commenced transmissions on 18 March 1962 as a single television stat ...

), 10 Bold Drama and 10 Peach Comedy.

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's Paramount Networks UK & Australia, UK & Australia division and is o ...

affiliated channels. * ABC,

ABC Family American cable television, cable and satellite television network Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through four different owners and six different name changes dur ...

, ABC Kids,

ABC Entertains ABC Entertains is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It was launched on 4 December 2009 as a children's channel called ABC3. It was rebranded on 19 September 2016 to ABC ME. It rebra ...

and

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

, part of the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

. * SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS World Movies, SBS WorldWatch,

SBS Food SBS Food (formerly Food Network) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). The channel airs programs about food and cooking, from cultures around the world. History SBS first ...

and

NITV National Indigenous Television (NITV) is an Australian free-to-air television channel that broadcasts programming produced and presented largely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It includes the six-day-a-week ''NITV News Updat ...

, part of the

Special Broadcasting Service The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public broadcasting, public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from tax revenue. SBS operates six TV channels (SBS (Australian TV chann ...

Radio

Muswellbrook has three local radio stations: * ABC Upper Hunter on 105.7 FM and 1044 AM *

Power FM Capital South Coast was a regional radio station owned by operated by Global Radio as part of the Capital (radio network), Capital radio network. It broadcast to Hampshire from studios in Segensworth, Fareham. In 2019, Capital South Coast was r ...

on 98.1 FM * 2NM on 981 AM Other radio stations that broadcast to the town are: *

Radio National ABC Radio National, more commonly known as Radio National or simply RN, is an Australian nationwide public service radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. ...

on 1512 FM *

ABC NewsRadio ABC NewsRadio, since 2017 broadcast under the ABC News brand and for a short time known as ABC News on Radio, is a 24-hour news radio service broadcast by the Australian public broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). ABC ...

on 104.9 FM * KIX Country on 94.5 FM * hit106.9 Newcastle on 106.9 FM

Newspapers

The town is served by the local newspaper '' The Muswellbrook Chronicle''.

Schools

* Muswellbrook South Public School * Muswellbrook Public School * St James Muswellbrook * Muswellbrook High School * Muswellbrook Pre School Kindergarten * Pacific Brook Christian School *Little Kindy Muswellbrook

Military history

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Muswellbrook was the location of RAAF No.5 Inland Aircraft Fuel Depot (IAFD), completed in 1942 and closed on 29 August 1944. Usually consisting of 4 tanks, 31 fuel depots were built across Australia for the storage and supply of aircraft fuel for the

RAAF The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the governor-general of Aus ...

and the US Army Air Forces at a total cost of £900,000 (A$1,800,000).

Notable persons

* Kurt Barnes (born 1981), a

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

, was born and raised in Muswellbrook *

Brooke Boney Brooke Kathleen Boney (born ) is an Australian journalist and television presenter of Aboriginal Gamilaroi descent. Boney has previously been a news and entertainment presenter of Nine Network's breakfast program '' Today'' and newsreader on th ...

(born 1987), entertainment reporter on the

's breakfast program '' Today'' * James Clifford (1936–1987), an artist, was born and raised in Muswellbrook * Tommy Emmanuel (born 1955), a

virtuoso A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'', or ; Late Latin ''virtuosus''; Latin ''virtus''; 'virtue', 'excellence' or 'skill') is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as fine arts, ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

, was born in Muswellbrook * Jamie Feeney (born 1978), a

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 ...

footballer was born in Muswellbrook * Wayne Harris (born 1960), a

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used ...

who rode Jeune to victory in the 1994

Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is an annual Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia, at the Flemington Racecourse. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and older, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club that forms part of the ...

, was born and raised in Muswellbrook * Shayne Hayne (born 1967), a rugby league football referee, grew up and spent most of his life in Muswellbrook *

(1921–2005), an author and journalist, was raised in Muswellbrook. Much of one of Horne's memoirs, ''The education of young Donald'', published in 1967, was based on his educative years in Muswellbook * Simon Orchard (born 1986), an Australian hockey player and Olympic medalist, was born and raised in Muswellbrook * Brydie Parker (born 1999), a

footballer for the

Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

NRLW side, was born in Muswellbrook. * Fletcher Baker (born 1999), a