Nashua is a former railway station and locality in the north-east of New South Wales, between Lismore and

Byron Bay Byron Bay ( Minjungbal: ''Cavvanbah)'' is a beachside town located in the far-northeastern corner of the state of New South Wales, Australia on Bundjalung Country. It is located north of Sydney and south of Brisbane. Cape Byron, a hea ...

Naming & Agriculture

Originally called Springvale. However, James and John Toohey named their property

Nashua Nashua may refer to: * Nashaway people, Native American tribe living in 17th-century New England Places In Australia: * Nashua, New South Wales In the United States: * Nashua, California * Nashua, Iowa * Nashua, Minnesota * Nashua, Kansas City ...

, originally a tribe of

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 to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

American Indians, meaning ''"land between two rivers"'' or ''"river with the pebbled bottom".'' It is not well understood why the Irish brothers so named their property. The Tooheys planned to grow sugar cane at Nashua, however frost destroyed their crops. Today, the undulating countryside sustains dairy cattle, pecan nuts and other agriculture. The New South Wales government used the property name for the railway station, and the name has persisted to this day.

Construction

Nashua Hall was built in 1909 for £149 10/-, but blown down by a storm in 1942 and not rebuilt. "Flower of the Forest", the 19th century hotel, the school and the General Store are also gone. The pub was popular during the days of the railway line construction. The Ballina-Booyong railway line was opened in 1930, but damaged by floods in 1948 and officially closed in 1953.

Orientation

The area was subtropical rainforest, part of the Bundjalung nation, before the

Big Scrub The Big Scrub was the largest area of subtropical lowland rainforest in eastern Australia. It was intensively cleared for agricultural use in the 19th century (1801–1900) by settlers. Less than 1% now remains. Located on the North Coast of New ...

was cleared in the late 19th century. A remnant of the forest is at nearby

Booyong Flora Reserve The Booyong Flora Reserve is a protected nature reserve located in Booyong in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. The subtropical jungle is situated northeast of Lismore and is a remnant of the Big Scrub, of which less t ...

. The red-brown soil is derived from a

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

ic flow from the nearby

Mount Warning Mount Warning ( Bundjalung: ''Wollumbin''), a mountain in the Tweed Range in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia, was formed from a volcanic plug of the now-gone Tweed Volcano. The mountain is located west-south-west of Mu ...

and later volcanic flows from the

Nightcap Range The Nightcap Range is a mountain range located in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia, in the area between Lismore and the New South Wales-Queensland border. It includes Mount Burrell and Mount Nardi as well as containing th ...

. Average annual rainfall at Lismore is 1340 mm and 1733 mm at Byron Bay.

References

{{authority control Towns in New South Wales Northern Rivers