Barham is a town in the western

Riverina The Riverina () is an agricultural list of regions in Australia, region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, a climate with significant seaso ...

district of

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 ...

. The town is located 823 kilometres south west of the state capital,

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and 303 kilometres north west of

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. Situated on the banks of the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray; Ngarrindjeri language, Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta language, Yorta Yorta: ''Dhungala'' or ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is List of rivers of Australia, Aust ...

across from

Koondrook Koondrook ( ) is a town situated on the Murray River, Victoria, Australia. The town is located in the Shire of Gannawarra local government area, north west of the state capital, Melbourne. At the 2016 census, Koondrook had a population of 832. ...

in the neighbouring state of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, Barham had a population of 1,159 at the . The town is in the

Murray River Council The Murray River Council is a local government area in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. This area was formed in 2016 from the merger of Murray Shire with Wakool Shire. The combined area comprises and covers the northern ban ...

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 federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

History

For thousands of years before white explorers arrived, the

Barababaraba The Barababaraba people (also spelt ''Barapabarapa'') are an indigenous Australian people whose territory covered parts of southern New South Wales and northern Victoria. They had close connections with the Wemba Wemba. Barababaraba have ext ...

people camped, hunted fished and gardened here. Their cooking mounds, scar trees, middens and artefacts can readily be found on private land and throughout the forests. Each nomadic clan had their own territory with exclusive rights to the camping, fishing and hunting. There was some vigorous resistance to the first settlers, but the indigenous population dramatically decreased in the late 1800s, mainly due to disease. The history of white settlement begins in 1843 when the 114,656 acre 'Barham' station was taken up by Edward Green, who named it after the maiden name of his wife.T.R.McConnell, History of Barham (1951) The south bank of the Murray was then settled towards the end of the Victorian gold rush where squatters grazed sheep & cattle. The typical Australian struggle between squatters (on vast acreage) and selectors (who took up small lots) was played out throughout the district, with selectors such as Parkman, McConnell and Hudson moving in to take up small farms within the Barham station lease from 1877. The Post Office opened on 1 January 1895. Growth was slow until 1904 with the construction of a lift span bridge designed to allow

paddle steamers A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine driving paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, whereby the first uses were wh ...

through.

Heritage listings

Barham has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * 319 Main Road: Barham Bridge over Murray River Also of historic and architectural interest in Barham are the Royal Hotel (1904) and the National Bank building (1912).

Timber industry

From the early 1870s, timber cutters began to set up camps and log the River Red Gums (

Eucalyptus camaldulensis ''Eucalyptus camaldulensis'', commonly known as river red gum, is a flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae, and is Endemism, endemic to Australia. It is a tree with smooth white or cream-coloured bark, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flow ...

) that grow in the surrounding forests.

, on the Victorian side, developed more quickly than Barham, soon becoming the centre of a large forest industry with the timber being used to build boats & paddle steamers. Some of these boats are still operating, the paddle steamer Melbourne, built at Koondrook in 1914 is a tourist attraction at Mildura, the Alexander Arbuthnot, built in 1923, & the Emmylou built in 1980-1982 operate in Echuca. The timber industry has continued to supply building timber, garden timber and firewood with several sawmills operating in the area. The Bonum Sawmill, occupying land at the Northern edge of Barham, incorporated several significant value-adding enterprises, such as a kiln, veneering and finger-jointing before closing in 2010 when the New South Wales government closed access to many of the forest areas following many years of drought and poor tree growth.

Barham Bridge

Barham's development was aided when a lift span bridge across the river opened in 1904, designed by Ernest de Burgh of the Department of Public Works and constructed by Monash & Anderson, with

John Monash General (Australia), General Sir John Monash (; 27 June 1865 – 8 October 1931) was an Australian civil engineer and military commander of the World War I, First World War. He commanded the 13th Brigade (Australia), 13th Infantry Brigade befor ...

in charge. The bridge replaced a punt that was used to ferry people, stock and goods across the river, and allowed road access between the Riverina and the Victorian markets, while permitting the passage of paddle steamers when the middle section was raised. Until it was motorised in 1997 it was operated by a system of weights worked by two men turning wheels. The span is still occasionally raised. The bridge is now one of the oldest remaining across the Murray River. A similar bridge was constructed upstream at the same time between

Cobram, Victoria Cobram is a town in Victoria, Australia. It is on the Murray River which forms the border between Victoria and New South Wales. Cobram along with the nearby towns of Numurkah and Yarrawonga is part of Shire of Moira and is the administrative cen ...

and Barooga, New South Wales.

Agriculture

The region boasts a rich agriculture based on irrigation including rice, sheep, citrus, cereal crops, dairy, walnuts, olives, and beef cattle.

The town today

The major industries in and around Barham are agriculture, including dairying and citrus, and forestry. Like much of the southern Riverina, the town is attuned culturally to Victoria, reading Victorian newspapers and watching Victorian television channels. The most popular team sport 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 Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

, the town in conjunction with neighbouring township Koondrook across the Murray having an

Australian Rules 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 Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

football team competing in the

Central Murray Football League The Central Murray Football Netball League (CMFNL) is a major country Australian rules football and netball competition based in northern Victoria and southwest New South Wales in Australia. History The league was formed in 1997, combining all ...

. Golfers play at the Barham Golf and Country Club on Moulamein Road.

Population

In the 2016 Census, there were 1,159 people in Barham. 83.5% of people were born in Australia and 89.9% of people only spoke English at home. The most common responses for religion were Anglican 28.6%, No Religion 24.4% and Catholic 18.1%.

Notable people

Barham is the birthplace of Australian cyclist Michael Rogers and Danny Lolicato Victorian Young Engineer of the year 2017.