Yerrinbool is one of the Northern Villages of the Southern Highlands 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 the

Wingecarribee Shire Wingecarribee Shire is the Local government in Australia, local government area of the Southern Highlands (New South Wales), Southern Highlands in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Wingecarribee Shire is around southwest of Sydney a ...

. Yerrinbool is accessible from the

Hume Highway The Hume Highway, including the sections now known as the Hume Freeway and the Hume Motorway, is one of Australia's major inter-city national highways, running for between Melbourne in the southwest and Sydney in the northeast. Upgrading of t ...

(via Bargo or Alpine) and is about a drive from nearby

Mittagong Mittagong () is a town located in the Southern Highlands (New South Wales), Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in Wingecarribee Shire. The town acts as the gateway to the Southern Highlands when coming from Sydney. Mittagong is si ...

. It is to Hill Top as the crow flies, accessible by foot via a fire trail. It is on the western edge of the Upper Nepean Nature Reserve, a vast area of forest, lakes and dams between Yerrinbool and the coastal communities around

Wollongong Wollongong ( ; Dharawal: ''Woolyungah'') is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near water' or 'sound ...

(accessible by a circuitous by-road). Yerrinbool was previously officially known as the ''Town of Yerrinbool''. It is located along the historic Old Hume Highway.

Facilities

Yerrinbool railway station is served by the

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 ...

Southern Highlands Line The Southern Highlands Line (SHL) is an Inter-city rail, intercity rail service that services the Macarthur, New South Wales, Macarthur, Southern Highlands (New South Wales), Southern Highlands and Southern Tablelands regions of New South Wal ...

. In 2018, a group of community volunteers established the Railway Garden as a rest area for travellers and a meeting place for locals and tourists to enjoy. The Yerrinbool General Store, across the road from the station, closed in 2014. Community facilities include a community hall, fire station, public toilets, an

Anzac The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was originally a First World War army corps of the British Empire under the command of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. It was formed in Egypt in December 1914, and operated during the ...

memorial and Yerrinbool Oval, which contains a skate park, soccer field and grassed sports area. Located on the northern outskirts of the town is the Tennessee Orchard, the main crop being apples. Yerrinbool's sporting field is home ground for the joint Yerrinbool- Bargo

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

team, the Yerrinbool-Bargo Bushrangers. The Bushrangers are part of the Highlands Soccer Association and field a team in the Highlands Competition. The village is home to the Yerrinbool Bahá’í Centre of Learning, a

Haziratu'l-Quds A Haziratu'l-Quds (Arabic, ''sacred fold''), or Baháʼí centre, is one of the national, regional or local Baháʼí Faith, Baháʼí administrative centres. Shoghi Effendi, the head of the Baháʼí Faith in the first half of the 20th century, ...

of the

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...

, which includes a library, assembly hall, classrooms, meeting rooms, dining hall and a number of small accommodation buildings for people using the facilities for Bahá’í studies, for meetings by other organisations, or as a pilgrims' hostel. See Baháʼí Faith in Australia.

Attractions

Yerrinbool is distinguished as the town with the "Welcome to the Southern Highlands" sign, as it is the first town of the Southern Highlands on the

coming from

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. Yerrinbool can also be distinguished by the Tennessee Orchard Sign, which has a large, round red apple on it. The bright sign can be seen when traveling past the village on the Hume Highway.

History

The name ''Yerrinbool'' is an Aboriginal word for the

Wood Duck The wood duck or Carolina duck (''Aix sponsa'') is a partially migratory species of perching duck found in North America. The male is one of the most colorful North American waterfowls. Taxonomy The wood duck was Species description, formal ...

— a common species around the

pond A pond is a small, still, land-based body of water formed by pooling inside a depression (geology), depression, either naturally or artificiality, artificially. A pond is smaller than a lake and there are no official criteria distinguishing ...

s of Yerrinbool. Prior to settlement, Yerrinbool was known as "Little Forest". On 13 July 1919, Yerrinbool railway station, along with the now closed Aylmerton Station, was officially open for use on the

Main South Line The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railway line that runs north and south from Lyttelton, New Zealand, Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the ...

. It was built on the new train line between Mittagong and Picton to replace what is known today as the disused Picton Loop Railway Line. The newer line was built to ease steep grades of the original line, which caused heavy train traffic at Picton Station. With the line and station now operating, the village was laid out, with two early land sales of Yerrinbool Station Estate on 6 October 1919 and 1 January 1920. Yerrinbool Post Office opened on 1 December 1919 upon the arrival of the railway, and closed in 1977. The Yerrinbool General Store was built and opened in 1921 along with a saw-mill, which has since been demolished. On 20 August 1922, a school was opened with 30 students enrolled. However, the school building was burnt down in a fire in the 1970s and was not rebuilt. The community hall was built in March, 1938 by local voluntary labour. The Yerrinbool Baháʼí School was first opened in May 1937 as a Baháʼí Summer School, providing a reading room and retreat for practitioners of the

. It is known as the ''Yerrinbool Baháʼí Centre of Learning''.

Population

According to the census in 1954, Yerrinbool had 50 dwellings with a population of 150. At the , Yerrinbool had a population of 1,164, while at the 2021 census, 1,196 people were recorded.

Heritage listings

Yerrinbool has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Avon Dam Road or fire trails: Nepean Dam (reservoir)

References

External links

History of the Northern Towns; Yerrinbool
{{authority control Towns of the Southern Highlands (New South Wales) Hume Highway Wingecarribee Shire