Parkes is a town in the Central West region of

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. It is the main settlement in the

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

of Parkes Shire. Parkes had a population of 11,224 as at 30 June 2018. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. Parkes is part of the traditional lands of 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, the largest language group in NSW with a country of more than 120,000 square kilometres.

History

The Wiradjuri people have lived on the lands of the 3 rivers, including the Lachlan River, for more than 40,000 years. The town of Parkes was part of the colonial expansion of the early 19th century, originally founded in 1853 as the settlement Currajong, named for the abundance of kurrajong trees in the local area by the settlers, but was then known as Bushman's (from the local mine named Bushman's Lead). In August 1873,

Henry Parkes Sir Henry Parkes, (27 May 1815 – 27 April 1896) was a colonial Australian politician and longest non-consecutive Premier of the Colony of New South Wales, the present-day state of New South Wales in the Commonwealth of Australia. He has ...

(later Sir Henry) visited the area and in December 1873 the town was officially renamed Parkes in his honour. (Sir Henry Parkes is recognised as having played an instrumental role in Australia becoming a unified and federated country.) ''Bushman's Lead'' Post Office opened on 1 August 1872 and was renamed ''Parkes'' in 1873. In March 1883 the first local government, Parkes Municipal District (redesignated as Parkes Municipality March 1906), was proclaimed. In January 1981 it was amalgamated with Goobang Shire to create Parkes Shire. The

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...

from

Molong Molong is a small town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia, in Cabonne Shire. History The name Molong comes from the Aboriginal word for 'all rocks'. William Lee of Kelso is said to have had cattle in the area by 1819. H ...

via Parkes to

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

, was officially opened on 18 December 1893. Parkes attracted significant attention during the

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New ...

of the 1870s onwards, and to this day modern mining companies have sites in the region. In 1939, Parkes became a sister city with

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

in the United Kingdom, Sir Henry Parkes birthplace.

Newspapers

Parkes' first newspaper was the ''Forbes and Parkes Gazette'', founded and conducted for many years by H. H. Cooke. This was followed by the ''Parkes Independent''. The ''Parkes Chronicle'' published by W. McNamara was amalgamated with the ''Parkes Independent'' which was subsequently purchased by Charles Reynolds; and later again, by George Washington Seaborn. In 1891 came the ''Parkes Examiner''. The ''Examiner'' was still operating by 1901, edited by Alderman Harry Bowditch who acquired it in 1893. Commencing in 1894 was the '' Western Champion'' by M. J. Little and D. Cameron. At a later time, Cameron also acquired the ''Independent''. In 1899 the ''Champion'' was purchased by 1899. Later journalistic ventures included the ''Western Reminder'' and the ''Western People''. The ''Examiner'' was renamed the ''Parkes Post'' in 1923, before becoming part of the ''Champion'' company in 1926. By 1934, these were merged to become the ''Champion Post''.

Military history

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Parkes was the location of RAAF Station Parkes, and RAAF No.18 Inland Aircraft Fuel Depot (IAFD), completed in 1942 and closed on 14 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 "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

and the

US Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

at a total cost of £900,000 ($1,800,000).

Heritage listings

Parkes has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * 39 Currajong Street: Parkes Post Office * May Street: Parkes railway station

Parkes today

With the presence of the nearby

Parkes Observatory Parkes Observatory is a radio astronomy observatory, located north of the town of Parkes, New South Wales, Australia. It hosts Murriyang, the 64 m CSIRO Parkes Radio Telescope also known as "The Dish", along with two smaller radio telescopes ...

, Parkes has had an important role in the scientific community. In addition to local research conducted at the

radio telescope A radio telescope is a specialized antenna and radio receiver used to detect radio waves from astronomical radio sources in the sky. Radio telescopes are the main observing instrument used in radio astronomy, which studies the radio frequency ...

, Parkes scientists have assisted NASA for several missions as a Southern Hemisphere relay and communications station. The movie ''

The Dish ''The Dish'' is a 2000 Australian historical comedy-drama film that tells the story of the Parkes Observatory's role in relaying live television of humanity's first steps on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. It was the top-grossing ...

'' was based somewhat loosely on the role the telescope played during the 1969

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, ...

moon landing. ''

'', although set in Parkes, was largely filmed in

' historic precinct. This is due to very few historic buildings remaining in Parkes. Parkes is also home to the

Parkes Spacemen The Parkes Rugby League Football Club (nicknamed the Spacemen) is a rugby league club that plays in Group 11. The Spacemen gained media attention when they recruited a number of Fiji national rugby league team players prior to the 2008 Rugby L ...

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

club. Agriculture is one of the primary industries in the Parkes region, particularly cropping, sheep farming and cattle farming. The area also features a copper and gold mine, Northparkes Mine, 27 km north-north-west of the town. Parkes became a key country location after the completion of the railway to Broken Hill in 1927, serving as a hub for a great deal of passenger and freight transport until the 1980s. Unfortunately, as successive governments reduced the NSW country rail systems, this part of the economy was largely lost to the community. Periodically governments and businesses have raised the topic of an "inland port" whereby Parkes Regional Airport would be expanded considerably to serve as a starting point for domestic and international freight destined for areas in NSW, Victoria and Queensland. Environmental studies are complete, development consents are in place, contracts have been exchanged, some properties have changed hands and studies are continuing. Parkes Shire Council, with approval from the State Government, has rezoned 516 hectares of agricultural and industrial land on the western edge of the town for the development of the Parkes National Logistics Hub with an additional reserve of over 100 hectares. The site has been specifically designed for the 24-hour, 7-day-per-week operation of a multi-modal transport facility. FCL runs a significant intermodal operation at Goobang Junction on Parkes' western outskirts. On 20 October 2006,

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Morris Iemma Morris Iemma (; born 21 July 1961) is a former Australian politician who was the 40th Premier of New South Wales. He served from 3 August 2005 to 5 September 2008. From Sydney, Iemma attended the University of Sydney and the University of Techno ...

opened Specialised Container Transport's intermodal terminal nearby on a site. It has 5 km of rail sidings, a warehouse and about 40 staff. An even larger terminal to be sited nearby is also being promoted. The

Roads & Maritime Services A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

' Western Regional Office is located in Parkes.

Essential Energy Essential Energy is a state-owned electricity infrastructure company which owns, maintains and operates the electrical distribution networks for much of New South Wales, covering 95 percent of the state geography. It also owns the reticulated wa ...

also is represented by a training and maintenance centre. Main tourist attractions are the

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency responsible for scientific research. CSIRO works with leading organisations around the world. From its headquarters in Canberra, CSIRO ...

Telescope 20 km north of town on the

Newell Highway Newell Highway is a national highway in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. It provides the major road link between southeastern Queensland and Victoria via central NSW and as such carries large amounts of freight. At in length, the Newell is th ...

, Bushmans Hill, and the War Memorial Lookout. Nearby there is the Goobang National Park, and Peak Hill which features an Open Cut Mine that can be toured during holidays. There are also many great parks. Parkes has a high percentage population of school age students and an associated number of schools. Parkes Public School was founded in 1876 under Archibald Booth as educator, Parkes East Public School and Middleton Public School are also in the area. Holy Family Catholic School and Parkes Christian School operate in the town, with Saint Patrick's School Trundle and St Joseph's School, Peak Hill also operating the shire.

Parkes High School , motto_translation = While I live, I learn , location = Parkes, Central West, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , type = Government-funded co-educational comprehensive secondary ...

is the main public high school for the town. Parkes Christian School offers education for students from Kindergarten to Year 10 in 2013, extending to Year 11 in 2014 and Year 12 in 2015. Many Parkes students also attend the nearby

Red Bend Catholic College , motto_translation = Through Difficulty to Greatness , established = , schooltype = Independent co-educational secondary day and boarding school , denomination = Roman Catholic , religious_affiliation = Association of Marist Schools o ...

in Forbes, some 35 km south.

Geography

Parkes is located on the Australian transcontinental railway line, and the

linking

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

Climate

Parkes has a

subtropical climate The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 35° north a ...

, with significant temperature variations between summer and winter. Under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

, Parkes lies in the transitional zone between

humid subtropical A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(''Cfa'') and

semi-arid A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi- ...

(''Bsk'') climates. Summer maximum temperatures average out at , however frequently reach each year. Winters are cool and partly cloudy, with

cold fronts A cold front is the leading edge of a cooler mass of air at ground level that replaces a warmer mass of air and lies within a pronounced surface trough of low pressure. It often forms behind an extratropical cyclone (to the west in the Northern H ...

bringing periods of light, misty rain with low maximum temperatures, and rarely even

snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughou ...

. Rainfall in spring and summer usually falls as

thunderstorms A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are somet ...

, with an annual average of of rainfall. Extreme temperatures have ranged from . Parkes is considerably sunny, having around 135.0 clear days annually.

Transport

Parkes has a local bus service provided by

Western Road Liners Western Road Liners is an Australian bus and coach company operating route, school and charter services in Parkes. History Western Road Liners was formed in 1971 when Merv Hennock and Peter McQuie purchased Reg Waser's Bus Lines. In 1983 the sch ...

, which acquired Harris Bus Lines in March 2006. The weekly ''

Indian Pacific The ''Indian Pacific'' is a weekly experiential tourism passenger train service that runs in Australia's east–west rail corridor between Sydney, on the shore of the Pacific Ocean, and Perth, on the shore of the Indian Ocean – thus, like ...

'' passes through but does not stop at Parkes. The '' Outback Xplorer'' service, run by

NSW TrainLink NSW TrainLink is a train and coach operator in Australia, providing services throughout New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, along with limited interstate services into Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Queensland and South Austral ...

, which heads to

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It ...

on Mondays and

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

on Tuesdays does stop. Parkes railway station is situated on the Broken Hill railway line, and opened in 1893. A smaller station served Parkes Racecourse between 1923 and 1937. Parkes Regional Airport is served regular air services to

operated by

Regional Express Airlines Regional Express Pty. Ltd., trading as Rex Airlines (and as Regional Express Airlines on regional routes), is an Australian airline based in Mascot, New South Wales. It operates scheduled regional and domestic services. It is Australia's large ...

. The airport is located approximately five kilometres east of the central business district.

Media

Radio *2PK AM 1404 (talkback radio format aimed at listeners 35 years+ most programs relayed from 2SM, Sydney): owned by Broadcast Operations Group. *PH FM 88.0 (community access radio station based in Peak Hill, 50 km north from Parkes). *ROK FM 95.5 (mixed music format aimed at 18 –39 years market – Top 40 and Classic Hits): owned by Broadcast Operations Group. *2LVR FM 97.9 (community radio) * Sky Sports Radio FM 99.9 – (Coverage of Thoroughbred, Harness and Greyhound Racing plus other general and specialist sport and talk programming) *

SBS Radio SBS Radio is an Australian radio network owned by the Special Broadcasting Service directed towards newly arrived immigrants in Australia. SBS Radio originally began as two stations based in Melbourne and Sydney, set up to provide pre-recorded ...

FM 101.3 (mixed format programming for ethnic communities) .Vision radio 87.6 fm. Christian Radio The

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owne ...

(ABC) transmit four stations into Parkes and the surrounding region: *

ABC Classic FM ABC Classic, formerly ABC-FM (also ABC Fine Music), and then ABC Classic FM, is an Australian classical music radio station available in Australia and internationally. Its website features classical music news, features and listening guides. I ...

NSW 2ABCFM 102.7 FM *

ABC Radio National Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. History 1937: Predecessors a ...

NSW 2ABCRN 104.3 FM *

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...

NSW 2JJJ 101.9 FM * ABC Central West NSW 2CR 549 AM – part of the

ABC Local Radio ABC Local Radio is a network of publicly owned radio stations in Australia, operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. ABC Local Radio stations broadcast across the continent using terrestrial transmitters and satellites. Its programm ...

network. Some stations from Dubbo and Orange also transmit into Parkes and the surrounding region. Television Parkes receives the following free-to-air television stations: *

Prime7 Prime7, formerly Prime Television and other names, was an Australian television network. Prime Television launched on 17 March 1962 as '' CBN-8'' in Orange, and later expanded to cover regional New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Ca ...

, 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 ...

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

owned channels. *

Southern Cross 10 10 Regional is an Australian television network owned by Southern Cross Austereo that is broadcast in Queensland, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and South Australia. The network is the primary affiliate of Network 10 i ...

10 Bold 10 Bold is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel owned by Network 10. It originally launched on 26 March 2009 as One HD with a focus on broadcasting sports-based programming and events, but rebranded to One in April 2011 to ...

10 Peach 10 Peach is an Australian free-to-air television channel operated by Network 10. It was launched on 11 January 2011 as Eleven. It is owned by ElevenCo, which was established as a joint venture between Ten Network Holdings and CBS Studios Inte ...

, 10 Shake, Sky News Regional -

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of fiv ...

affiliated channels. * WIN Television,

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, ani ...

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 Nine N ...

, 9Life -

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, 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 five main free-to-air television netw ...

affiliated channels. *

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

, SBS,

SBS Viceland SBS Viceland (stylised as SBS VICELAND) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). It began as SBS TWO on 1 June 2009, and was branded as SBS 2 between 2013 and 2016. On 8 April 2017, SBS ...

SBS Food SBS Food 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 revealed it would lau ...

, NITV,

SBS WorldWatch SBS WorldWatch is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). The channel shows multilingual international news bulletins in more than 30 languages, as well as two local bulletins i ...

ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to: *ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or *ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia ABC Television or ABC ...

ABC TV Plus ABC TV Plus (formerly ABC2 and ABC Comedy) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and part of its ABC Television network. The channel broadcasts a range of general entertainment pr ...

ABC Me ABC Me (stylised as ABC ME) is an Australian English language children's free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It was officially launched by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on 4 December 2009 as ABC3. Hist ...

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

. Newspapers There are two local newspapers servicing Parkes. * ''The

Parkes Champion-Post The ''Western Champion'' was a weekly English language newspaper published in Parkes, New South Wales, Australia. History The town of Parkes had been served with many newspapers. The ''Western Champion'' began in 1893 and was published by M. ...

'' is published on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It is owned by

Australian Community Media Australian Community Media (ACM) is a media company in Australia responsible for over 160 regional publications. Its mastheads include the ''Canberra Times'', ''Newcastle Herald'', '' The Examiner'', '' The Border Mail'', '' The Courier'' and ...

. * ''Th
Parkes Phoenix
' is a free weekly paper that is published on Fridays. It is part of the independently owned Phoenix Group of papers.

Notable people

* Billy Burns, rugby league player *

Dianna Corcoran Dianna Elizabeth Corcoran (born 20 June 1979 in Parkes, New South Wales) is an Australian country music singer-songwriter. Among numerous awards, she is a three-time Golden Guitar winner History Corcoran's initial interest in country music inv ...

, country music singer * Stephen Davies, field hockey player, 1996 Olympian * Ian Evans, historian and writer * David Field, actor * Trixie Gardner, Baroness Gardner of Parkes - the first Australian woman to have been elevated to the peerage (1981) *

Bryson Goodwin Bryson Goodwin (born 30 December 1985) is a former New Zealand international rugby league footballer who last played as a goal-kicking or er for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the National Rugby League. He previously played for the Canterbu ...

, Australian rugby league footballer * Mike Leary, rugby league player * Greg McGirr, NSW Labor politician and father of Trixie Gardner *

Jim McGirr James "Jim" McGirr, Justice of the peace, JP (6 February 1890 – 27 October 1957) was the Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch), Labor Premier of New South Wales from 6 February 1947 to 3 April 1952. A Catholic, McGirr was the seven ...

, NSW Labor politician, 28th

Premier of New South Wales The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales acting as the legislatu ...

Patrick McGirr Patrick Michael McGirr (25 December 1874 – 13 April 1957) was an Australian politician. He was born in Parkes to farmer John Patrick McGirr and Mary O'Sullivan, and was educated at St. Joseph's Convent. He left school at a young age to wor ...

, NSW Labor politician *

Darby Medlyn Darby Medlyn (born 7 November 1999) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Canberra Raiders in the NRL. Career 2020 Medlyn made his first grade debut in round 20 of the 2020 NRL season for Canberra against the Cron ...

, Australian rugby league footballer * Harry 'Breaker' Harbord Morant (1864–1902), Anglo-Australian drover, horseman, bush poet, military officer and convicted war criminal * David Nash, linguist * Will H. Ogilvie (1869–1963), Scottish-Australian horseman and bush poet and balladist * James Pritchard, International Rugby player, Rugby World Cup Representative * Gordon Watson, pianist * Scott Westcott, marathon runner, 2016 Olympian *

Mariah Williams Mariah Williams (born 31 May 1995) is an Australian field hockey player. She represented her country at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Personal life Williams was born and raised in Parkes, New South Wales. She plays national representative hockey f ...

, field hockey player, 2016 & 2020 Olympian

Festivals

Parkes hosts the annual

Parkes Elvis Festival The Parkes Elvis Festival is an annual event celebrating the music and the legend of Elvis Presley held in early January in the Australian New South Wales regional town of Parkes. The first festival in 1993 was simply a one night performance att ...

. It is held in early January to celebrate

Presley Presley is a surname and given name. Etymology The name ''Presley'' is derived from the Old English ''preost'', meaning "priest", and ''leah'' meaning "forest clearing". History Most instances of the surname ''Presley'' and variants ''Pressley' ...

's birthday and to boost tourism.

Gallery

File:Parkes Billabong Creek 001.JPG, Parkes Billabong Creek File:Parkes Bushmans Dam 001.JPG, Parkes Bushmans Dam File:Parkes Bushmans Hill Reserve 001.JPG, Parkes Bushmans Hill File:Parkes Elvis Memorial.JPG, Elvis Memorial File:Parkes Shrine Of Remembrance 001.JPG, War Memorial File:Parkes Court House 005.JPG, Court House File:Parkes Henry Parkes Statue Front 001.JPG, Henry Parkes Statue File:Parkes Heraghty Park 001.JPG, Heraghty Park File:Parkes Mazoudier Park 001.JPG, Mazoudier Park File:Parkes TAFE Campus.JPG, Parkes TAFE College

References

External links

Parkes – VisitNSW
{{authority control Towns in New South Wales Towns in the Central West (New South Wales) Newell Highway Parkes Shire Populated places established in 1853 Mining towns in New South Wales