Lockhart is a town in the

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

. It is the location of the Lockhart Shire Council. At the 2016 census, Lockhart had a population of 818 people.

History

Lockhart was named after C.G.N. Lockhart – a commissioner for Crown Lands in the

Murrumbidgee River The Murrumbidgee River () is a major tributary of the Murray River within the Murray–Darling basin and the second longest river in Australia. It flows through the Australian state of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, desce ...

area in the 1850s. It was originally known as Greens Gunyah, and renamed Lockhart in 1897. Greens Gunyah was so named because a Mr. Green was the earliest settler, a stockman who had a grog shop on the

Urana Urana is a small town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The town is in the Federation Council, New South Wales, Federation Council local government area. Urana is located between Lockhart, New South Wales, Lockhart and Jeril ...

–

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 57,003 as of 2021, it is an important agricultural, m ...

stagecoach route. Ferriers Post Office opened on 16 May 1882 and was renamed Lockhart in 1898. In 1915, the Lockhart – Roll of Honour was unveiled, with 86 locals enlisted in National Service. A railway station served the town between 1901 and 1975, it has now been restored and converted into a

New South Wales Rural Fire Service The New South Wales Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) is a volunteer-based firefighting government agency, agency and statutory body of the Government of New South Wales. The NSW RFS is responsible for fire protection to approximately 95% of the la ...

station. Seasonal grain trains service silos in the town. Lockhart formerly had a

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

team who competed in the Group 13 Rugby League competition. The club wore blue and red jerseys.

Tim Fischer Timothy Andrew Fischer (3 May 1946 – 22 August 2019) was an Australian politician and diplomat who served as leader of the National Party of Australia, National Party from 1990 to 1999. He was the tenth Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, d ...

, National Party leader (1990–1999) and 10th

Deputy Prime Minister of Australia The deputy prime minister of Australia is the deputy Chief executive officer, chief executive and the Deputy prime minister, second highest ranking officer of the Australian Government. The office of deputy prime minister was officially creat ...

was born here.

Attractions

Water Tower Mural

In October 2018 a water tower

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

was opened in a park in the main street of Lockhart. It was created by artists Scott Nagy and Janne Birkner (Krimsone) in just three weeks and depicts a cascading waterfall surrounded by local flora and fauna. The mural covers a surface of over 600 square metres. Since the tower was painted, visitor numbers are up by close to 37 per cent.

Spirit of the Land Festival

Lockhart is home to the annual Spirit of the Land Festival, a celebration to the resilience of those who live and work on the land. The festival, held on the second weekend in October, includes a competition for sculptures created from

recycled Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. This concept often includes the recovery of energy from waste materials. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the propert ...

farm materials. Many of the entries from past years are found in the park around the water tower mural and in other locations on the Lockhart Sculpture and Heritage trail.

Notable Former Residents

* Trevor Carrodus (Australian rules footballer) *

(Australian politician) * Stan Livingstone (Australian rules footballer) * Bill Peach (Australian journalist) * Josh Wooden (Australian rules footballer)

Gallery

File:Lockhart entrance sign.jpg, Entrance sign for Lockhart, New South Wales, Australia File:GreensGunyah(Lockhart)Museum.jpg, Greens Gunyah Museum File:Rusty Cockatoo.jpg, Rusty Cockatoo at Spirit of the Land Festival File:Emu Family Sculpture.jpg, Emu Family Sculpture at Spirit of the Land Festival File:Horse Power.jpg, Horse Power Statue at Spirit of the Land Festival File:Good Old Days.jpg, Good Old Days at Spirit of the Land Festival File:Bonnie Dog.jpg, Bonnie Dog at Spirit of the Land Festival File:Bonnie Dog and tower mural.jpg, Tower Mural

External links

Spirit of the Land website

References

{{authority control Towns in the Riverina Towns in New South Wales Lockhart Shire