Trunkey Creek is a rural village located 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 ...

Bathurst Regional Council Bathurst Regional Council is a Local government in Australia, local government area in the Central West, New South Wales, Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. The area is located adjacent to the Great Western Highway, Mid-Western ...

. It is about south of the city of Bathurst and about north of the city of

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 ...

on the Bathurst Goulburn Road. At the , Trunkey Creek had a population of 118, almost unchanged from the figure of 122 at the . During the

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, ...

of 1851, sparked by

Edward Hargraves Edward Hammond Hargraves (7 October 1816 – 29 October 1891) was an Australian gold prospector who led an expedition in the Macquarie River region of New South Wales in 1851, and publicised the resulting finds, starting the New South Wales ...

' announcement that there was payable gold to be found at the junction of the

Abercrombie River Abercrombie River, a perennial river that is part of the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the central west of New South Wales, Australia. Course The river rises to the east of the village of Mount Werong and generally flows westward tow ...

and Grove Creek near the village, its population is reputed to have swelled to 2500. The rivers near the village continue to provide gold for hobbyists and prospectors. The village is said to have received its name from a prospector who had a particularly large nose and was given the nickname ''Trunkey''. Although the village had received the official name of ''Arthur'', the creek that the prospector was working on became known as ''Trunkey's Creek'' and the village — although officially called ''Arthur'' — was referred to as ''Trunkey Creek'' until it changed its name in 1988. The town is endowed with a police station and courthouse built in 1879. The police station is still staffed today. The ''Golden Age Hotel'' built in 1869 still stands today, as does the original general store of 1879 and the ''Black Stump Hotel'' (originally the ''Commercial Hotel'') which although destroyed by fire in 1928 was rebuilt and continues to serve the public. On 2 March 2007, Local Gun Shearer Brett Molly set the world 24-hour shearing record by shearing 845 full wool Alpacas. It was the first time a record has been set in 24-hour Alpaca shearing. However, for the record to be officially recognised, it needs to be overseen by the World Shearing Records Committee. Brett was the only person to witness the event.

Landmarks

* Abercrombie Caves, a major geological tourist attraction is situated very close to the town. * Mulgunnia, colonial homestead * Grove Creek Observatory

Notes and references

Towns in New South Wales Towns in the Central West (New South Wales) Mining towns in New South Wales {{CentralWestNSW-geo-stub