Barmah

Barmah
Victoria

Murray River crossing at Barmah
Barmah
Coordinates 36°01′03″S 144°57′55″E / 36.01750°S 144.96528°E / -36.01750; 144.96528Coordinates: 36°01′03″S 144°57′55″E / 36.01750°S 144.96528°E / -36.01750; 144.96528
Population 181 (2011 census)[1]
Postcode(s) 3639
Location
LGA(s) Shire of Moira
State electorate(s) Shepparton
Federal Division(s) Murray
Localities around Barmah:
New South Wales New South Wales Picola
New South Wales Barmah Picola West
Lower Moira Lower Moira Picola

Barmah is a town in Victoria, with the distinction of being located north of the border with New South Wales. At the 2011 census, Barmah had a population of 181.[1]

The border between the two states is the mostly westward-flowing Murray River. Just downstream of Barmah, the Murray winds south, then east far enough to put a small point of New South Wales directly south of Barmah before resuming its generally westwards course.

Barmah is near the largest river red gum forest in the world. The Barmah National Park is on the floodplain of the Murray River, and when it floods is an important breeding ground for Murray cod. The flood is enhanced by the geological features of the riverbed, as the channel narrows at an area known as the Barmah choke.

The Barmah Forest is listed under the Ramsar Convention for wetlands and, with various state forests in New South Wales, has been identified as an Important Bird Area. It is rich in bird species and is the breeding ground for the superb parrot, a species listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

History

The Barmah area was first settled in 1856 by Joseph Waldo Rice who established the Murray Fishing Company to supply fish for the gold mining region of Bendigo, Victoria.[2] Barmah was, for a time beginning in the early 1880s, a prosperous centre, whose chief industry was sawmilling. There were two major sawmills; that of Robert Barbour on the N.S.W. side of the river, and James MacIntosh's and E. Whitely's on the Victorian side. Much of the timber was exported to India for piles and railway sleepers until a government prohibition of the export of redgum, which forced closure of the Barmah mills. Trade picked up later, with the expansion of the railway network and a new sawmill was opened by R. Evans, who shipped the sawn timber to Echuca on his steamboat, the Edwards.[3]

A Barmah Post Office opened on 16 September 1876 and was renamed Barmah East in 1907, closing in 1951. Barmah Township Post Office opened on 2 May 1902.[4]

Ancient geography

The geography at Barmah is explained by a geological event that occurred 25,000 years ago, when an uplift of land along the Cadell fault forced the Murray River onto a new course for 500 km. The river had to force its way through the Barmah choke taking over the Goulburn River in the process.[5] The uplifted land that led to these changes is noticeable as a continuous, low, earthen embankment along the road leading into Barmah from the west, which may appear to the untrained eye as man-made.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Barmah (State Suburb)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
    Edit this at Wikidata
  2. ↑ "Joseph Waldo Rice". Find a Grave. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  3. ↑ "Ex-Cr. W. T. Maloney, J. P.". Numurkah Leader (Vic. : 1914 - 1918). Vic.: National Library of Australia. 1 September 1916. p. 2. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  4. ↑ Premier Postal History, Post Office List, retrieved 2008-04-11
  5. ↑ The Australian Financial Review, 28 April 2006, p81

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