Coolamon ()is a town in the

Riverina The Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation ...

region of south-west

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 Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Coolamon is north-west of

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 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...

and south-west of

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 Mountain ...

via the Hume and

Sturt Highway Sturt Highway is an Australian national highway in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. It is an important road link for the transport of passengers and freight between Sydney and Adelaide and the regions situated adjacent to the r ...

s. The town is situated on the railway line between

Junee Junee () is a medium-sized town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The town's prosperity and mixed services economy is based on a combination of agriculture, rail transport, light industry and government services, and in par ...

and

Narrandera Narrandera ( ) until around 1949 also spelled "Narandera", is a town located in the Riverina region of southern New South Wales, Australia. The town lies on the junction of the Newell and Sturt highways, adjacent to the Murrumbidgee River, and ...

. Coolamon had a population of 2,275 at the 2021 census and is above sea level. It is the administrative and service centre for the local government area which bears its name—

Coolamon Shire Coolamon Shire is a local government area in the Riverina region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Shire comprises and is located adjacent to the Newell Highway and the Burley Griffin Way. The Shire includes the towns of Coolamo ...

History

The name of Coolamon comes from the Aboriginal word for a basin-shaped wooden dish made and used by Australian

Aboriginal people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

. In the area around the town are thousands of naturally occurring indentations in the ground called Coolamon Holes which fill with water. The original land where Coolamon now stands, prior to European settlement, was occupied by the

Wiradjuri The Wiradjuri people (; ) are a group of Aboriginal Australian people from central New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , ...

Aboriginal peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

. A property "Coleman" was first settled there by a Mr J. Atkinson in 1848. The town was surveyed prior to the coming of the railway in 1881. Cowabbie Post Office opened on 1 May 1881 and was renamed Ganmain on 1 July and Coolamon on 1 November of that year. At the outbreak of World War 1 Coolamon was hosting the then opposition leader The Right Hon. Andrew Fisher MP. who shortly before addressing a meeting in the Odd Fellow's hall received a telegram from the Prime Minister Joseph Cook advising him that the UK Government had declared war on Germany. He announced to the meeting that Australia would support Britain "to the last man and the last shilling" a line that he would repeat frequently throughout the war, but which was first used in Coolamon. Fisher became Prime Minister following an election held a month later.

Heritage listings

Coolamon has a number of heritage listed sites, including the

Up-To-Date Store The Up-To-Date Store is a heritage-listed former retail building and now museum at 127-129 Cowabbie Street, Coolamon, Coolamon Shire, New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Garth Jones Collection of Farm Machinery. The store was designed ...

which is listed in the NSW State Heritage Register, indicating a place or object that has significance for all of NSW. Among the locally recognised heritage sites are: *Shire Offices *Court House and Police Station *historic Post Office *former Fire Station *Railway Station and Station Master's Cottage *Catholic, Anglican and Uniting Church Precincts *RSL Building (now a museum) *Coolamon Hotel

Modern Coolamon

Coolamon is in the

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

belt of New South Wales and is a leading state producer of wheat and

chaff Chaff (; ) is the dry, scaly protective casing of the seeds of cereal grains or similar fine, dry, scaly plant material (such as scaly parts of flowers or finely chopped straw). Chaff is indigestible by humans, but livestock can eat it. In agri ...

. Wheat was first grown in the area in the 1850s. In addition,

turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

s and

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. As ...

are produced and the area is noted for the quality and plumpness of its lambs. A major industry in the town is Coolamon Steelworks, fabricators of

chaser bin A chaser bin, also called grain cart or (grain) auger wagon, is a trailer towed by a tractor with a built-in auger conveyor system, usually with a large capacity (from several hundred to over 1000 bushels; around is average). Design The t ...

s. The town's broad main street, which has been restored, retains much of its old world charm with its wrought-iron verandahs and awnings. Various bric-a-brac, antique shops, tourist coffee lounge, and a modern bread bakery and cafe invite passing tourists to stop and explore the town. The Up-to-Date store, designed by architect

William Monks William John Monks, also known as Bill or Billy, (1869 – 2 July 1943) was an Australian architect active in the last decade of the 19th century and first third of the 20th century. Monks "had one of the most successful and extensive architec ...

, has what is probably the only cash ball cash railway still in situ. In 2017 a boutique cheese factory was opened on the main street, as a working tourist attraction, and selling various hard and soft cheeses made on the premises. Coolamon is home to active Rotary and

Lions Clubs The International Association of Lions Clubs, more commonly known as Lions Clubs International, is an international non-political service organization established originally in 1916 in Chicago, Illinois, by Melvin Jones. It is now headquartere ...

and a sub-Branch of RSL NSW.

Kindra State Forest Kindra State Forest is a native forest, in the Australian state of New South Wales with a total area of about 520 hectares. It is located at Coolamon, New South Wales. The state forest contains bike and walking trails. In November 2022, it was ...

is located at Coolamon.

Sport

The most popular sport in Coolamon is

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

, as it lies in the narrow 'canola belt', a geographical triangle stretching from the

Grong Grong Grong Grong is a small town that is located in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The town is situated on the Newell Highway, east of Narrandera in the Shire of Narrandera. The name ''Grong Grong'' is an Aboriginal term mea ...

and

Marrar Marrar is a Jatt tribe of Pakistan and India. According to the book Glossary of tribes Castes of Punjab and NW Province Marrars were Sombansi Rajputs. Many Rajput tribes during wars and famine began to cultivate their lands and hence began being ...

at either end of the

Canola Way Close-up of canola blooms Canola flower Rapeseed oil is one of the oldest known vegetable oils. There are both edible and industrial forms produced from rapeseed, the seed of several cultivars of the plant family Brassicaceae. Historically, i ...

, to

Lake Cargelligo Lake Cargelligo () is a town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia, on Lake Cargelligo. It is in Lachlan Shire. At the , Lake Cargelligo had a population of 1,479 people. Its name is said to be a corruption of the Aboriginal ...

, in which Australian football retains a strong following in the

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 ...

supporting state of

. The town's team, the Coolamon Rovers Football and Netball Club, which competes as the Coolamon Grasshoppers, competes in the

Riverina Football League The Riverina Football Netball League (RFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing nine clubs based in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The league features three grades in the Australian rules footbal ...

. Coolamon is home to an 18-hole sand green golf course, 10 rink synthetic

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...

green, four synthetic tennis courts and four touch football fields operated by the Coolamon Sports and Recreation Club.

Railway station

Coolamon railway station Coolamon railway station is located on the Hay line in New South Wales, Australia. It serves the town of Coolamon. History Coolamon station opened on 28 August 1881 as Gawabbie. It was renamed Cooleman on 1 September 1881, and finally Coolamo ...

opened in 1881 as Cowabbie Road. The station name was quickly changed to Coleman and finally the name Coolamon was settled on in 1895. The coming of the railway allowed greater ease in transporting the area's products to distant markets. Coolamon is a served by the twice weekly

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, Queensland and South Australia. Its primary interc ...

Xplorer service operating between

and

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 Rid ...

. NSW TrainLink also operate a road coach service from

to Griffith via Coolamon.

References

External links

Riverina Redevelopment Board WebsiteCoolamon Shire CouncilCoolamon Sport and Recreation ClubCoolamon Lions Club
{{authority control Towns in the Riverina Towns in New South Wales 1881 establishments in Australia Coolamon Shire