Nambucca Heads is a town on the

Mid North Coast The Mid North Coast is a country region in the north-east of the state of New South Wales, Australia. The region, situated 416km north of Sydney, covers the mid northern coast of the state, beginning from Port Stephens at Hawks Nest to as far ...

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 ...

in the Nambucca Valley. It is located on a ridge, north of the estuary of the Nambucca River near the Pacific Highway. Its population at the was 6,668 (6,314 in the and 6,220 in the ), including 5,220 (78.3%) Australian–born persons; followed by 262 (3.9%)

English people The English people are an ethnic group and nation native to England, who speak the English language in England, English language, a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language, and share a common ancestry, history, and culture. The Engl ...

, 86 (1.3%) New Zealand people, 36 (0.5%)

Scottish people Scottish people or Scots (; ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the Scotland in the Early Middle Ages, early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who f ...

, 33 (0.5%)

German people Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

, and 32 (0.5%)

Filipino people Filipinos () are citizens or people identified with the country of the Philippines. Filipinos come from various Austronesian peoples, all typically speaking Filipino language, Filipino, Philippine English, English, or other Philippine language ...

. and 672 (10.1%) indigenous persons. The place name is derived from an Gumbaynggirr word Ngambagabaga. Clement Hodgkinson asked two Ngamba men what the name of the area was they responded to Nyambagabaga as the spot they were standing was a bend in the river where a Ngamba giant was speared in the leg in the Dreaming. This location is the Foreshore Caravan Park now. Ngamba is a subsection of Gumbaynggirr Nation & Baga Baga means Knee. This was later interpreted as Nambucca. It is a popular holiday and retirement destination. The town is located on the North Coast railway line, and is served by the three daily

NSW TrainLink NSW TrainLink is a regional train and coach operator in Australia, providing services throughout New South Wales and into Australian Capital Territory, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria (state), Victoria, Queensland and South Australia ...

services.

History

Nambucca Heads is the current and historical homeland of the

Gumbaynggirr The Gumbaynggirr people, also rendered Kumbainggar, Gumbangeri and other variant spellings, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Mid North Coast of New South Wales. Gumbathagang was a probable clan or sub-group. The traditional lands of th ...

people. Gumbaynggirr lands stretch from Pillar Valley, Tyndale, Grafton and Copmanhurst in the north, to Glen Innes,

Guyra Guyra is a town situated midway between Armidale and Glen Innes on the Northern Tablelands in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. It is within Armidale Regional Council and at the 2021 census, it had a population of 2,077. M ...

and Black Mountain to the west, and to Bowraville to the south.Townsend, N. 1993. Valley of the Crooked River: European Settlement on the Nambucca. New South Wales University Press, Sydney. The Nambucca River separated the Gumbaynggirr from the Dunghutti Ngaku. The name Nambucca comes from an Aboriginal word, ''ngambugka'', variously translated as "winding or crooked river", and as "entrance to the waters." Europeans may have explored the area in 1818, and

John Oxley John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley (1784 – 25 May 1828) was an English List of explorers, explorer and surveyor of Australia in the early period of British colonisation. He served as Surveyor General of New South Wales and is perhaps bes ...

surveyed the area in 1820. The cutting of

Australian red cedar ''Toona ciliata'' is a forest tree in the mahogany family which grows throughout South Asia from Afghanistan to Papua New Guinea and Australia. Names It is commonly known as the red cedar (a name shared by other trees), tone, toon or toona (als ...

had started in the area by 1842. It is believed that the first house was built in 1867, when about 50 people had settled in the valley to cut cedar or grow

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

. The site of the town was surveyed in 1874 and the first hotel and school were both established in 1884. It was proclaimed a village in 1885. The North Coast railway was extended from

Taree Taree () is a city on the Mid North Coast, New South Wales, Australia. It and nearby Cundletown were settled in 1831 by William Wynter. Since then it has grown to a population of 26,381, and commands a significant agricultural district. Situ ...

to South Grafton in 1915, but Nambucca Heads station was not opened until 1923. Nambucca Heads has one of the oldest surf lifesaving clubs in Australia and also invented junior surf lifesaving known as

Nippers Nippers are young surf lifesaving, surf lifesavers, usually aged between 5 and 14 years old, in clubs across Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Unlike senior surf lifesavers, the majority of them do not patrol the beaches. The focus for ...

. In December 1980 the five kilometre Belwood Deviation of the Pacific Highway opened bypassing Nambucca Heads.Changes at Nambucca Heads - Bellwood Deviation '' Main Roads'' January 1981 pages 3-6

Local media

Radio Stations: 2CS-FM (106.3), Star FM (105.5 & 105.1), 2MC-FM (106.7),

Triple J Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays far more Australian conten ...

(91.5 & 96.3), 2NVR FM (105.9) The Nambucca Valley's community radio station
2NVR 105.9FM
focuses on Macksville, Bowraville, Nambucca Heads and surrounding communities. Newspapers: Midcoast Observer, Hibiscus Happynings, Guardian News, Coffs Coast Advocate. Television:

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 ...

, SBS, Seven Northern NSW, 10 (WIN), Nine ( NBN)

Schools

* Nambucca Heads Public School * Frank Partridge VC Public School * Nambucca Valley Christian Community School * Nambucca Heads High School

Transport

Nambucca Heads railway station Nambucca Heads railway station is located on the North Coast line in New South Wales, Australia. It is about from the centre of the town of Nambucca Heads. It opened on 3 December 1923 as Nambucca Heads. It was renamed Nambucca in October 19 ...

, opened in 1923, on the North Coast Line. It is serviced by three

trains per day in each direction.

References

{{authority control Towns in New South Wales Mid North Coast Coastal towns in New South Wales