Tallong, New South Wales
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Tallong () is a village in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia. It is located about 1½ hours’ drive from Sydney, the capital of NSW, and about an hour from Canberra, the nation’s capital. In the 19th Century the village was known as Barber's Creek. Tallong was part of Mulwaree Shire prior to the forced council amalgamations of 2004; it is now in Goulburn Mulwaree Council.
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[edit] History
Hamilton Hume was granted land in Tallong in the early 1820s.
Tallong was once a thriving agricultural community, known particularly for its pome fruit orchards, especially apples and pears. At the turn of the 20th Century, Tallong had shops, pubs, hotels and a post office. It was an important refuelling stop along the Main South railway line.
The village sent an annual exhibit of a tall pyramid of fruit to the Sydney Royal Easter Show; Tallong's apples and pears took top honours several times through mid-century.
Tallong was destroyed in the Chatsbury bushfires of 1965. Its economy did not recover and the award-winning fruit industry folded. Many residents moved; the Post Office and small businesses closed.
[edit] Tallong today
Modern Tallong is saved from obscurity by a few unique factors:
- The discovery of the Tallong Midge Orchid (Genoplesium plumosum), a tiny flower that grows nowhere else on earth, brought the village to the attention of botanists and conservationists. This orchid is now a protected species.
- The Tallong Public School is the oldest surviving single-teacher schoolhouse in Australia.
- There are two splendid lookouts over the Shoalhaven Gorge (a 1500-foot drop to the Shoalhaven River) and Morton National Park; Badgery’s Lookout and Longpoint Lookout, both of which attract day trippers.
- The country campus of Santa Sabina College is located in Tallong.
- The annual Tallong Trail Ride in support of the Rural Fire Brigade attracts riders from as far away as Sydney.
Tallong today is a hamlet of agrarian and trade workers, cottage industries, including stud farms, and commuters who work in the neighbouring towns of Goulburn, Moss Vale and Mittagong, or who make the commute to Sydney or Canberra. There is a railway station in the town which can take commuters to Sydney. It has significant populations of older residents who are pensioners (retirees) and weekend residents who use the Southern Highlands as a retreat from the fast pace of city life.
The 21st Century boom in the real estate market in Sydney brought the affordable land in the Southern Villages to the attention of home buyers, investors and speculators. Property value has almost tripled in some areas. According to the postal service, postal drops have increased by 100 households over the last two years, more than a 33% increase.
In 2004, Mulwaree Shire was profitable and was the fastest-growing shire outside of Sydney. The city of Goulburn operated with considerable debt. Following the forced council takeover, Tallong's resources were no longer managed by locals. As of the 2006 assessment, land rates (taxes based on the estimated value of the land) more than doubled.
[edit] References
- The Tallong Public School, Peter Westren, ed., privately published, Tallong: 1990.
- Southern Village View Magazine, Published Quarterly by the Southern Village View Association Inc. Wingello, NSW.
[edit] External links
- An article on the history and description of Tallong: [1]
- Santa Sabina College: [2]
