Nabiac is a small town on the

Mid North Coast The Mid North Coast is a country region in the north-east of the state of New South Wales, Australia. The region covers the mid northern coast of the state, beginning from Port Stephens north of Sydney, and extending as far north as Woolgoo ...

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 in Mid-Coast Council. It is north-west of Forster, and south of

Taree Taree is a town on the Mid North Coast, New South Wales, Australia. Taree and nearby Cundletown were settled in 1831 by William Wynter. Since then Taree has grown to a population of 26,381, and is the centre of a significant agricultural distr ...

. At the , the population of Nabiac was 1,294. Nabiac is the central town of the Wallamba Valley. As is typical of small North Coast towns, it developed in the second half of the 19th century as a small river port (later called Bullocks Wharf on the eastern edge of the town) for the hardwood-cutting (mainly Australian red cedar) trade. Later as the valley was cleared, small-scale dairying and corn-growing became dominant but its importance has since declined. At first, milk was mainly bought by the dairy at Dyers Crossing (about 6 km west of Nabiac). Later fresh milk was also supplied to the Sydney market via the Sydney

Milk Board Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulati ...

. The first post office in the area was established in May 1870 on the south side of the Wallamba and was initially called "Cape Hawke Post Office" after

Cape Hawke Cape Hawke () is a coastal headland in Australia on the New South Wales coast, just south of Forster/ Tuncurry and within the Booti Booti National Park. The cape was named by Captain Cook when he passed it on his ''Endeavour'' voyage on 12 May ...

, which is 30 km away. It was renamed "Clarkson's Crossing" in February 1880 and Nabiac on 1 June 1894. The Pacific Highway was relocated through Nabiac in the mid-1950s. This included the opening of a bridge over the Wallamba to replace Clarkson's Crossing on 15 November 1958. Since then Nabiac has steadily become more of a highway service town and tourist stopping point. Nabiac school

The poet Les Murray was born in Nabiac, although his family lived in nearby Bunyah. He travelled to school in Nabiac for his primary and early high school education.

References

External links

Nabiac Community site
{{authority control Towns in the Hunter Region Suburbs of Mid-Coast Council