Alstonville is a town in northern
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 ...
, part of the region known as the
Northern Rivers
Northern Rivers is the most northeasterly Regions of New South Wales, region of the Australian state of New South Wales, located between north of the state capital, Sydney, and encompasses the catchments and fertile valleys of the Clarence Ri ...
. Alstonville is on the
Bruxner Highway
Bruxner Highway, and its former western alignment as Bruxner Way, are a state highway and rural road respectively, located in New South Wales, Australia. The route forms an east–west link across the Northern Tablelands in northern New South ...
between the town of
Ballina (13 km to the east) and city of
Lismore (19 km to the west). The village of
Wollongbar is 4 km to the west of Alstonville. Alstonville is the service centre of the area known as the Alstonville Plateau.
The
traditional owners
Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...
of this area are the
Bundjalung people
The Bundjalung people, also spelled Bunjalung, Badjalang and Bandjalang, are Aboriginal Australians who are the original custodians of a region from around Grafton, New South Wales, Grafton in northern coastal New South Wales to Beaudesert, Que ...
.
History

Europeans were first attracted to the area, known as the
Big Scrub
The Big Scrub was one of the largest areas (75,000 ha) of lowland subtropical rainforest in eastern Australia. It was intensively cleared for agricultural use in the 19th century (1801–1900) by settlers. By the late 19th century less than 1 ...
, in the 1840s by the plentiful supply of
red cedar. It was not until 1865 that the first settlers selected land in the area, then known as the parish of Tuckombil. Some notable selections in the first five years include that of the Freeborn, Roberston, Graham, Newborn, Crawford, Mellis, and Newton families.
[
] By 1883 Alstonville boasted two pubs, six stores, two black-smiths, nine sugar mills, and four saw mills.
Sugar cane was an important industry to the early settlers, with many small mills operating across the district. These were later replaced by larger more efficient steam mills such as those erected in 1882
at Alstonville (owned by the Melbourne Sugar Company) adjacent to Maguires Creek and at Rous Mill adjacent to Youngman Creek. By 1896 the Rous mill boasted a light rail line to transport cane from Alstonville.
From the 1890s ownward, dairies became common across the area, later becoming the dominant industry for the first half of the 20th century. Due to lack of refrigeration, cream, not milk, was the product of interest, which was transported to local factories to be made into butter. The first butter factories were located at Wollongbah (1889), Rous (1889) and Teven Road (1890).
In 1900
the NSW Creamery Butter Company built the Alstonville factory near Maguires Creek, which was sometime later acquired by the
Norco Co-operative
Norco Co-operative Limited is an agricultural supply and marketing co-operative based in the Northern Rivers New South Wales, Australia.
Established in 1895, it sells products and services locally and internationally. Its 200+ dairy farm memb ...
. After closing this building became a caravan factory, peanut factory, and finally a furniture factory, which is still open today.
One notable former resident of Alstonville is
Patrick Joseph Bugden, who was awarded a
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...
(the highest military decoration which can be awarded to a member of the armed forces of the Commonwealth). "Paddy" served as a member of the 31st Battalion
AIF AIF, A.I.F., AiF or aif may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Argumenty i Fakty'' (AiF), a Russian newspaper
* Australians in Film (AiF), a Los Angeles-based organisation for the promotion of Australian actors and filmmakers
* Aspen Ideas ...
during the First World War. The annual Anzac day parade starts at the Paddy Bugden Memorial, which is situated on Bugden Avenue.
Origin of the name
The village was originally known as "Duck Creek Mountain" after Duck Creek, which flows along the southern edge of town eventually merging with Emigrant Creek and the
Richmond River
The Richmond River is a river
A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may ...
. The name was given by the cedar cutters because of the abundance of wild duck on the upper tidal reaches of the creek.
[
] In 1873, due to conflict of the original name with a different duck creek the first postmaster and owner of the general store John Perry proposed the name "Alstonville". Alstonville, also the name of the Perry farm, was derived from Alston the maiden name of his wife Annie Alston.
Population
In the 2021 Census, there were 5,182 people in the Alstonville urban centre. 84.3% of people were born in Australia. The next most common country of birth was England at 4.2%. 92.1% of people only spoke English at home. The most common responses for religion were no religion 39.9%, Catholic 18.7% and Anglican 14.9%.
Facilities
Crawford house, a pioneer house situated next to Elizabeth Ann Brown park is now a historical museum. Directly behind is the town's major shopping centre, Alstonville Plaza, which has a few specialty shops, and a major supermarket. The town has a post office but no longer has any bank.
Summerland Farm, previously known as the "Summerland House With No Steps", has been operating near Alstonville since 1971. A business of Aruma, formerly House with No Steps, Summerland Farm provides training and employment for in excess of 100 people with a disability in fields such as
farming
Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...
and
hospitality
Hospitality is the relationship of a host towards a guest, wherein the host receives the guest with some amount of goodwill and welcome. This includes the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. Louis de Jaucourt, Louis, ...
. A must see tourist attraction, major distribution hub for regional farms and a working avocado and macadamia farm, Summerland Farm is one of the region's oldest and most successful tourism and horticulture businesses.
Alstonville has two stationed emergency services, Fire & Rescue NSW Station 204 and NSW Police.
Economy
An industrial estate is located in Russleton Park, with cement,
macadamia
''Macadamia'' is a genus of four species of trees in the flowering plant family Proteaceae. They are indigenous to Australia—specifically, northeastern New South Wales and central and southeastern Queensland. Two species of the genus are comm ...
processing and rural supplies dominating. In addition, numerous bus depots are located here, and there is a mail sorting facility. The industrial estate is located across the highway from Wollongbar; however, it is not a part of Wollongbar.
Alstonville is also home to many locally-run shops and services.
Schools
The town of Alstonville is home to two public and one
private
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...
school
A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...
: Alstonville Public School (state primary), St Joseph's School (Catholic primary) and Alstonville High School (state secondary). In 2016 the newly built Alstonville Preschool was opened, situated next to the Olympic Swimming Pool.
Transport
Transport between Alstonville and Wollongbar, is by either car, or foot/bike, as a path runs between Bulwinkel Park and the shopping centre at Wollongbar.
Bus services are limited. There are no buses into or out of Alstonville at night or on weekends. As a result, the area has experienced problems with petty crimes and public nuisances.
Transport issues
A
bypass
/span> has been constructed for the Bruxner Highway to remove congestion and improve safety. Previously Alstonville traffic became unusually congested (for such a small-population town) because its main road was the main thoroughfare between Lismore and Ballina. All three schools (and bus stops for another three schools) are located in a bottleneck with only one entry/exit road; as a result, parking for all three schools is usually congested.
Sporting teams on the plateau
The area has many parks, including Geoff Watt Oval, the major sporting ground for cricket, and soccer, and Crawford Park, across the other side of the highway. This park is a second sporting ground for soccer.
*The Alstonville and District Football Club is the local soccer club, known as "Villa", and is uniformed with red and black.
*Wollongbar Alstonville Pioneers Rugby is the local rugby union club, located at Wollongbar.
*Alstonville & District Cricket Club is Alstonville's only cricket team. Each year they have a team in the LJ Hooker League
The LJ Hooker League is a cricket competition on the NSW Far North Coast comprising teams from the Ballina, Casino, Lismore and Tweed
Tweed is a rough, woollen fabric, of a soft, open, flexible texture, resembling cheviot or homespun, bu ...
. They play at Geoff Watt Oval, Hill Park Oval & Gap Road.
*
*Alstonville is also the home of FNC NSW futsal
Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...
at the Alstonville Entertainment Centre.
Interesting facts
''Andesanthus lepidotus
''Andesanthus lepidotus'', Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Tibouchina lepidota'', also known as alstonville, Andean princess flower, lasiandra, or glory bush, is a medium-sized ornamental tree or a large shrub native to northwestern South America t ...
'' 'Alstonville' is a small tree grown in many parts of Australia for its brilliant display of purple flowers in autumn. This variety along with the dwarf variety 'Jules' was developed by Ken Dunstan a resident of Alstonville, hence the name.
The world's first commercial orchard of macadamia
''Macadamia'' is a genus of four species of trees in the flowering plant family Proteaceae. They are indigenous to Australia—specifically, northeastern New South Wales and central and southeastern Queensland. Two species of the genus are comm ...
trees was planted in the early 1880s by Charles Staff at Rous Mill, on the Alstonville plateau, 7 km south west of the centre of town.
Media
Radio stations that cover Alstonville are ABC North Coast, 101.9 Paradise FM, River FM and Triple Z FM.
Alstonville receives TV from SBS and ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting
* Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
and the regional affiliates of Seven
7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube.
As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has symbolic associations in religion, mythology, supers ...
, 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 ...
and 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 ...
’s 10 Northern NSW.
The local newspaper is ''The Northern Star
''The Northern Star'' is a daily newspaper serving Lismore, New South Wales, Australia. The newspaper is owned by News Corp Australia.
''The Northern Star'' is circulated to Lismore and surrounding communities, from Tweed Heads to the no ...
''.
Notable residents
* Rachael Beck
Rachael Elizabeth Beck (born 2 September 1971) is an Australian stage and television singer-actress. From 1991 to 1994 Beck had a major role on the popular sitcom, '' Hey Dad..!'', as Samantha Kelly. From 2006 to 2008, Beck appeared on all thre ...
, actress
* Doug Daley, rugby league player and administrator
* Nicholas Hamilton
Nicholas William Hamilton (born 4 May 2000) is an Australian actor and musician. He is best known for portraying Rellian in '' Captain Fantastic'' (2016), Henry Bowers in '' It Chapter One'' (2017) and '' Chapter Two'' (2019), and superhero Mav ...
, actor
* Russell Strong, surgeon
* Brendan Drew, cricketer
References
External links
Ballina Shire Council
— Sydney Morning Herald
Summerland House
Alstonville High School
Alstonville Preschool
Alstonville Plateau Historical Society
Northern Rivers Geology Blog - Alstonville Plateau
{{authority control
Towns in New South Wales
Northern Rivers