Tallong is in the traditional lands of the

Gundungurra The Gandangara people, also spelled Gundungara, Gandangarra, Gundungurra and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people in south-eastern New South Wales, Australia. Their traditional lands include present day Goulburn, Wollondilly Sh ...

people. It is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

east of the Great Dividing Range and is located in the Southern Highlands 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 ...

, in

Goulburn-Mulwaree Council Goulburn Mulwaree Council is a local government area located in the Southern Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia. The area is located adjacent to the Hume Highway and the Southern Highlands railway line. The estimated resident popula ...

. At the , the village had a population of 914. The town is 8.5 km from the town of

Marulan Marulan is a small town east of the Great Dividing Range and is located in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia. It is in the Goulburn Mulwaree Council local government area and the traditional lands of the Gundungurra people. It ...

and 25 km from the town of Bundanoon. The principal industries of the village include

stud farm A stud farm or stud in animal husbandry is an establishment for selective breeding of livestock. The word "stud (animal), stud" comes from the Old English ''stod'' meaning "herd of horses, place where horses are kept for breeding". Historically, ...

s, arts and crafts and services for surrounding farms. Tallong is home to the Tallong Midge Orchid (''Genoplesium plumosum''), a tiny

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

found only in the area surrounding the town. This

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

is now a protected

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

. It was discovered in 1997.

Etymology

The original settlement was named Barber's Creek after the watercourse that runs through the town. In the early twentieth century the town was renamed "Tallong" after an Aboriginal word meaning either "tongue" or "spring of water".

History

Colonial era

The first European settler in the area was George Barber, a cattle farmer. In 1814 Barber established a cattle station along what became known as Barber's Creek. In 1821 he received a grant of covering the general Tallong-Marulan district, to be converted from cedar brush to farmland. Before his death in a riding accident in 1844, Barber had extended his local landholdings to , which he named "Glenrock". He is buried in the Old Marulan Cemetery in

. In the late 1820s, that portion of Barber's land that would eventually become the township was sold or reallocated to Sydney entrepreneur and mariner

Billy Blue William Blue (c. 1767 – 7 May 1834) was an Australian convict who, after completing his sentence, became a boatman providing one of the first services to take people across Sydney Harbour. He was also made a water bailiff and watched boat ...

. Convict labour was used to clear the grazing land and prepare a route for the Main South railway line to

Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, approximately south-west of Sydney and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters patent by Queen Victor ...

. Tallong was selected as the location for a railway refuelling point, and the town's initial population consisted of convicts, woodcutters, railway workers and their families. The opening of the railway in 1869 brought shops, a school,

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

s and a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

to the town.

Post-Federation

By 1900, cattle grazing was slowly giving way to a thriving fruit industry, known particularly for apples and pears. The village sent an annual exhibit of a tall pyramid of fruit to the

Sydney Royal Easter Show The Sydney Royal Easter Show, commonly shortened to The Easter Show or The Show, is an annual show held in Sydney, Australia over two weeks around the Easter period. First held in 1823, it comprises an agricultural show, an amusement park and a ...

; Tallong's apples and pears took top honours several times throughout the early part of the twentieth century. The population reached 200 in 1920, and a Memorial Hall was constructed to mark the town's growth and record the service of local residents in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The Hall and war memorial are still standing today. In 1955 the Australian poet and novelist Seaforth Mackenzie drowned while attempting to swim across Tallong (formerly Barber's) Creek near the town. Tallong was destroyed in the

Chatsbury bushfire The Chatsbury/Bungonia bushfires of 1965 was a series of bushfires that burned from 5 to 14 March 1965 in the Southern Highlands region of New South Wales, Australia. The fires destroyed the villages of Tallong, Wingello, and most of the sur ...

of 1965. Its economy did not fully recover and the award-winning fruit industry folded. Many residents moved and the post office and a number of small businesses closed.

Heritage listings

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

Attractions

The village is also home to one of the oldest surviving single-teacher

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

houses in Australia at

Tallong Public School Tallong Public School is a co-educational government primary school located in Tallong, New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1865 in what was then Barber's Creek, it is the oldest surviving single-teacher schoolhouse in Australia. Workers ...

. Moreover, it is home to the country campus of

Santa Sabina College Santa Sabina College (abbreviated as Santa, Santa Sabina or SSC) is a multi-campus independent Roman Catholic, single-sex, early learning, primary and secondary day school for girls from Year 5 to Year 12; and a co-educational day school fr ...

. Furthermore, the village is home to two lookouts on the plateau that makes up the

Shoalhaven Gorge The City of Shoalhaven is a local government area in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The area is about south of Sydney. The Princes Highway passes through the area, and the South Coast railway line traverses the norther ...

(a which looks over the drop to the

Shoalhaven River The Shoalhaven River is a perennial stream, perennial river that rises from the Southern Tablelands and flows into an open mature wind wave, wave dominated estuary#Lagoon-type or bar-built, barrier estuary near Nowra on the South Coast, New Sou ...

) and

Morton National Park The Morton National Park is a national park located in the Southern Highlands, South Coast and Illawarra regions of New South Wales, Australia, situated approximately south southwest of Sydney. Location and features The most notable attracti ...

. The lookouts are known as'' Badgerys Lookout'' and ''Longpoint Lookout''. Tallong is home to the big apple and host to the award-winning annual "Apple Day" festival although the festival was cancelled for 2024. There is also an annual Tallong Trail Ride in support of the Rural Fire Service.

References

External links

An article on the history and description of Tallong
{{authority control Towns of the Southern Highlands (New South Wales) Southern Tablelands Goulburn Mulwaree Council