Couridjah is a small town in the Macarthur Region 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 ...

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, in Wollondilly Shire. It was previously known officially as "Village of Couridjah". At the , Couridjah had a population of 303.

History

The name "Couridjah" has been variously reported to mean, in a local Aboriginal language, anything from "The Place of the White Ants" to "The Home of the Medicine Man". Couridjah was formerly a station on the Main Southern Railway. At the time of the line's construction, it was known as "Jones's Hut". That line was deviated in 1919 to a less steep alignment with easier grades, and the original line became the Picton-Mittagong Loop line. Thirlmere Lakes, to the west of the station, supplied water to the standpipes at Couridjah for replenishing steam locomotives, after their long haul up the steep grade from Picton. The lakes were formerly known as the "Coridja Lagoons" and "Picton Lagoons". The sandstone pump-house is still in existence adjacent to the Lakes. The standpipes, too, remain near the station, but have been disused since 1964.

Heritage listings

Couridjah has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Main Southern railway: Couridjah railway station

Couridjah today

The platform and the small waiting room have been restored and are maintained by volunteers from the NSW Rail Museum at Thirlmere, though none of the Heritage trains which still use sections of the Picton Loop line stops there. The station and platform were featured in a television advertisement for "Minties" lollies. The main premises of the Tharawal Local Aboriginal Land Council are located at Couridjah. It is also the location of Picton Lakes Village, a settlement established in 1925 for sufferers of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

.''Public Health Notes'' #34, April 1940. Central Board of Health Adelaide. Retrieved 3 May 2010 from http://www.publications.health.sa.gov.au/pubhen/34/ Couridjah has no shop, post office, or any other public building, nor any main street. It is chiefly a semi-rural residential area, among which are some small orchards and poultry farms.

References

Bibliography

* Chalk, Karyn. 20078. ''A brief history of Couridjah in the Wollondilly Shire of New South Wales Australia.'' New South Wales : Lulu. * Wright, Harry. "Picton Locomotive Depot and the Picton-Mittagong Loop Line", ''Roundhouse'' Vol. 41, No. 2, April, 2004. pp. 5–15

External links

Minties confectionery ad. filmed at Couridjah Station in 1985

Wollondilly Shire Council

Wollondilly Shire towns and villages info
{{authority control Towns in New South Wales Wollondilly Shire