Marulan, New South Wales

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Marulan (34°42′S 150°00′E) is a town in the Southern Tablelands region of New South Wales, near Goulburn in Goulburn Mulwaree Council. It lies close to the Hume Highway, which used to run through the town until the highway bypassed the town. Marulan lies on the 150 meridian.

[edit] History

In the early years of European settlement at Sydney, exploration southwest of Sydney was slow. In 1818, Hamilton Hume and James Meehan reached "the Goulburn plains" for the first time. Governor Lachlan Macquarie ordered the construction of the Great South Road (the basis of the northern end of the Hume Highway) in 1819 from Picton to the Goulburn Plains.

The southern part of Macquarie's road ran from Sutton Forest roughly along existing minor roads to Canyonleigh, Brayton, Carrick and Towrang, where it joined the current route to Goulburn. Branching from this route (now called the Illawarra Highway at this point) just south of Sutton Forest, a road, now known as Old Argyle Road, developed in the 1820s. It ran to Bungonia, via Wingello, Tallong, and the southern outskirts of Marulan, all, except Wingello, located in Argyle County, along with Goulburn. Counties never became serious units of government in New South Wales, but they are still referred to in land titles. In the early 19th century Bungonia was expected to become a major centre, but it subsequently proved unsuitable for intensive agriculture. Travelling down Old Argyle Road is not recommended after significant rain.

When Thomas Mitchell rerouted the Great South Road in the 1830s, he decided to bring these two roads together and build a junction at old Marulan, with roads proceeding to Goulburn and Bungonia. When the railway reached Marulan in 1868, the town migrated 3 km north to the railway station. Nevertheless, the old cemetery remains at the Bungonia Road intersection. A quarry is about to be developed near the intersection, so an interchange is to be built.