Barellan

Barellan
New South Wales

Barellan, looking along Burley Griffin Way
towards Griffith.
Barellan
Coordinates 34°17′0″S 146°34′0″E / 34.28333°S 146.56667°E / -34.28333; 146.56667Coordinates: 34°17′0″S 146°34′0″E / 34.28333°S 146.56667°E / -34.28333; 146.56667
Population 644 (2011 census)[1]
Postcode(s) 2665
Location
LGA(s) Narrandera Shire
County Cooper
State electorate(s) Cootamundra
Federal Division(s) Riverina

Barellan /bɑːˈrɛlən/ is a small town in Narrandera Shire in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. On Census night 2011, Barellan had a population of 328.[1] It is a quiet Riverina wheat town on the Burley Griffin Way, with characteristic silos, and functions primarily as a service centre for the surrounding agricultural area.

History

An aerial view of Barellan in February 2014.

The railway reached Barellan in 1908 and a post office was opened on 1 April 1909.[3]

The Commercial Hotel, "a typically large and rather gracious hotel with an impressive upper verandah", was built in 1924.[4]

Barellan was also the first town to have a Country Women's Association (CWA) rest house; built in 1924, the same year as the hotel.

In 2009, Barellan celebrated its centenary.

Demography

Unlike many rural localities in the area, the population level has fluctuated over a number of years, evidenced as follows:

Selected historical census data for Barellan state suburb
Census year 2001[5]2006[6]2011[1]
Population Estimated residents on Census night 359 1 513 644
Note ^1 : The 2001 census data covers just the urban locality of Barellan, while the 2006 and 2011 data covers the urban locality and surrounding rural properties.

Evonne Goolagong

Barellan is notable as the childhood home of the tennis-player, Evonne Goolagong (now Evonne Cawley). There is a small plaque honouring her in the main street. Evonne Goolagong was born in nearby Griffith on 31 July 1951 and attended Barellan Primary School. Although Aboriginal people faced widespread discrimination in rural Australia at this time, Evonne was able to play tennis in Barellan from childhood thanks to a kindly resident, Bill Kurtzman, who saw her peering through the fence at the local courts and encouraged her to come in and play. Goolagong left Barellan to attend Willoughby Girls High School in Sydney where she was able to further develop her tennis-playing skills.

The Big Tennis Racquet

A 13.8 metres (45 ft) long replica of a tennis racquet used by Evonne Goolagong has been built in Evonne Goolagong Park. Goolagong unveiled the exact scale model of the wooden Dunlop racquet during Barellan's centenary celebrations on 3 October 2009.[7]

Barellan Central School

Barellan has a central school that goes from kindergarten to year 12 and has about 129 enrolled students. Barellan is part of the RAP (Riverina Access Program) which allows the year 11 and 12 students to complete their HSC. It comprises students from Hillston Central, Ardlethan Central and Ariah Park Central in video conferencing.In 2010, Oaklands Central and Urana Central Schools entered the Partnership.[8]

Gallery

References

  1. 1 2 3 Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Barellan (L) (Urban Centre/Locality)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
  2. ↑ Travelmate
  3. ↑ "Post office list". Premier postal history. Retrieved 11 June 2009.
  4. ↑ "Barellan Walkabout". Australian Travel Guide (Fairfax Media).
  5. ↑ Australian Bureau of Statistics (9 March 2006). "Barellan (Urban Centre and Locality)". 2001 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  6. ↑ Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Barellan (State Suburb)". 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  7. ↑ Dennis Passa, NSW town makes a racquet for Goolagong', Brisbane Times, 3 October 2009
  8. ↑ Barellan Central School

External links

Media related to Barellan at Wikimedia Commons

Preceding station   NSW Branch lines   Following station
towards Roto
Temora- Roto Line
towards Temora
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, October 14, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.