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Peak Hill is a town in
Parkes Shire Parkes Shire is a local government area in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire is located adjacent to the Broken Hill railway line and the Newell Highway. The area under administration includes the town of Parkes ...
in the Central West 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 ...
. At the , Peak Hill had a population of 768. It is located on the
Newell Highway Newell Highway is a National Highway (Australia), national highway in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. It provides the major road link between southeastern Queensland and Victoria (state), Victoria via central NSW and as such carries large amo ...
and the Parkes to Narromine railway line.


History

Before the arrival of Europeans, the Peak Hill area was part of the
Wiradjuri The Wiradjuri people (; ) are a group of Aboriginal Australian people from central New South Wales, united by common descent through kinship and shared traditions. They survived as skilled hunter-fisher-gatherers, in family groups or clans, a ...
people's lands. In 1817, the explorer John Oxley and his party were the first Europeans in the region. In 1889, gold was discovered in the area, and later that year Peak Hill was gazetted in November 1889. The Post office opened on 7 November 1889, and the Bureau of Meteorology's weather station began in 1965. The first public wheat silo built in Australia was constructed at Peak Hill in 1918 after government surveys indicated the district had great potential as a wheat-producing region.


Agriculture

The district is also a renowned sheep producing area, particularly medium-woolled merinos. There are also five merino studs actively operating in the area, namely Cora Lynn, Genanegie, Towalba, Towonga and Westray. Rams from these studs have been sold throughout Australia, and they all have on-property hoggett ram sales in September, supplying commercial sheep breeders with high-quality young rams to breed from.


Open Cut Mine

The Peak Hill Open Cut Experience is a self guided walk around the open cut mine. The walks follow signposted trails and the mine is fenced off for safety. Numerous information panels are located at the mines entry and long the paths at the various viewing platforms. A public toilet is located at the mine site. Relics from the early mining days are on display and the site is very popular with visitors of all ages.


Facilities

Peak Hill has a Catholic primary school St Joseph's, and a public central school. Peak Hill has three motels, one hotel and two caravan parks. It also has a post office, RSL club,
bowling Bowling is a Throwing sports#Target sports, target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a bowling ball, ball toward Bowling pin, pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references to ''bowling'' are ...
club, golf club, cafes, antique shops, newsagency, supermarket, butcher shop, art gallery, book shop, hairdressers and beauty salons. There is a showground that has
harness race Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australia an ...
s and an annual
agricultural show An agricultural show is a public event exhibiting the equipment, animals, sports and recreation associated with agriculture and animal husbandry. The largest comprise a livestock show (a judged event or display in which selective breeding, bree ...
. Peak Hill offers many tourist attractions such as the
open cut Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique that extracts rock or minerals from the earth. Open-pit mines are used when deposits of commercially useful ore or ro ...
gold mine, flora and fauna reserve nature walk, Bogan Weir, Australia's first upright wheat silo, heritage listed hospital, arts and crafts, Big Fish fossil hut, and a unique street facade which takes visitors back in time. The local community operates a volunteer-run radio station: PeakHillFM89.5. The station provides a round-the-clock service of classic hits seven days per week. Peak Hill styles itself as 'The Town With a Heart of Gold' to reflect its proximity to the goldmine, and lends its facilities as a base for tourists of Wiradjuri Country.


Climate

Peak Hill has a rather dry
humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...
(''Cfa''), with characteristics of a
hot semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of sem ...
(''BSh''). Summers are very hot and winters fairly cool, with significant variation between the seasons. Severe thunderstorms are common in the spring and summer months. Peak Hill is very sunny with 153.8 clear days annually.


Silos

Peak Hill's central position in the New South Wales wheat belt may have been the reason why Peak Hill became the site for Australia's first upright bulk wheat
silo A silo () is a structure for storing Bulk material handling, bulk materials. Silos are commonly used for bulk storage of grain, coal, cement, carbon black, woodchips, food products and sawdust. Three types of silos are in widespread use toda ...
in 1918. It was not until 1927 that the next stage, the six-bin silos and weighbridge complex, was completed at Peak Hill. In 1950 the construction of three additional 50,000-
bushel A bushel (abbreviation: bsh. or bu.) is an Imperial unit, imperial and United States customary units, US customary unit of volume, based upon an earlier measure of dry capacity. The old bushel was used mostly for agriculture, agricultural pr ...
bins was carried out and the bulkhead was completed in 1959. After viewing the current silo, it will become apparent that they have grown substantially over the years to cope with the local grain production. A lot of locally grown grain is also taken over to the Parkes silo. The Peak Hill silo can be viewed from Lindner Avenue, which runs parallel with the railway line.


War memorials

Peak Hill has a war memorial at the Peak Hill Cemetery located north of the town on the Newell Highway. There is also the AIF War Memorial School of Arts, the War Memorial park, and the War Memorial Pool.


Places to see

*Post Office - built 1899 * Peak Hill Railway Station- now at Lindner Oval *Club House Hotel - 1910 *Carrington Hotel * Peak Hill District Hospital - Heritage listed Victorian style building from 1904 *St James Catholic Church - Heritage listed Catholic Church *St Joseph's Primary School *Sisters of Mercy Convent *Masonic Hall *AIF Memorial School of Arts


Recreation areas

*War Memorial Park *Lindner Oval and Recreational area *Commercial Gardens *Bogan River reserve *War Memorial Pool *Bowling Club *Golf Club


Notable people

*
Graham Murray Graham Ernest Murray (6 January 1955 – 28 July 2013) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s, and coached in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. A New South Wales State of Origin head coach, Murray ...
, rugby league player and coach *
Willie Tonga Villiami Sione "Willie" Tonga (born 8 August 1983), also known by the nickname of ”Willie", is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Leigh Centurions in the Super League. An Australia international ...
, Rugby League Player *
Esi Tonga Esikeli Tonga (born 5 February 1988) is a former Tonga international rugby league footballer who last previously played for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in the National Rugby League. A Tongan international representative three-quarter or sec ...
, Rugby League Player, Entrepreneur * Hanley, Kitty (Kate) (c. 1845–1917) Wiradjuri Elder and midwife * Sergeant George Brayne (c. 1851-1906) *
William Yeo Sir William Yeo (1 May 18969 December 1972) was an Australian ex-service leader, farmer and soldier. Early life Yeo was born in Alectown, New South Wales, the son of Australian-born schoolteacher Arthur Plane Yeo and his wife Louisa Mary (né ...
, farmer and State president of the Returned Servicemen's League. *Frost, Charles Leslie (1897–1971) Aboriginal leader. *Mingay, Oswald Francis (Ossie) (1895–1973) radio engineer, soldier and publisher


References


External links


Peak Hill - VisitNSW
{{authority control Towns in the Central West (New South Wales) Newell Highway Parkes Shire Mining towns in New South Wales