Barellan

Barellan /bɑːˈrɛlən/ is a small town in Narrandera Shire in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. On Census night 2021, Barellan had a population of 276.[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.

Barellan
New South Wales
Barellan, looking along Burley Griffin Way
towards Griffith.
Barellan is located in New South Wales
Barellan
Barellan
Coordinates34°17′0″S 146°34′0″E
Population276 (2021 census)[1]
Postcode(s)2665
Location
LGA(s)Narrandera Shire
CountyCooper
State electorate(s)Cootamundra
Federal division(s)Riverina

History

An aerial view of Barellan in February 2014.

The name of Barellan is an Aboriginal expression that literally means the meeting of the waters.[3]

The railway reached Barellan in 1908 and a post office was opened on 1 April 1909.[4]

The Commercial Hotel, "a typically large and rather gracious hotel with an impressive upper verandah", was built in 1924.[5]

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

Until recently, the population numbers have remained relatively constant, evidenced as follows:

Selected historical census data for Barellan
Census year2001[6]2006[7]2011[8]2016[9]
PopulationEstimated residents on Census night359366328334

Heritage listings

Barellan has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

Evonne Goolagong

Barellan is notable as the childhood home of the tennis player Evonne Goolagong (now Evonne Goolagong 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 Bill Kurtzman, a kindly resident, who saw her peering through the fence at the local courts and encouraged her to come in to play. Goolagong left Barellan to attend Willoughby Girls High School in Sydney where she developed 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.[11]

Barellan Central School

Barellan has a central school that goes from kindergarten to year 12 and has 100[12] enrolled students. Barellan is part of the RAP (Riverina Access Partnership) 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 and has a local light bulb collector that gets old fluorescent tubes .[13]

Football

The Barellan Rams compete in the Group 17 Rugby League competition. They were Clayton Cup winners as the best local team in the state in 1999 and 2002.

The Barellan "Kangaroos" competed in the Central Riverina Football League from 1973 to 1981, then joined the Riverina Football League in 1982, but were relegated to the Riverina District Football League in 1983, after finishing on the bottom.

In 1984, the Riverina District Football League changed its name back to the Farrer Football League and Barellan competed in this league from 1984 to 1992, when they joined the Northern Riverina Football League in 1993 and had a great run of success with senior football premierships in - 1994, 95, 96, 97, 98 and 2011.

The Barellan "Two Blues" re-joined the Farrer Football League in 2015.

References

  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Barellan (L)". 2021 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  2. Travelmate Archived 24 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Barellan, NSW Aussie Towns
  4. "Post office list". Phoenix Auctions history. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  5. "Barellan Walkabout". Australian Travel Guide. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 1 September 2006.
  6. Australian Bureau of Statistics (9 March 2006). "Barellan (L)". 2001 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  7. Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Barellan (L)". 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  8. Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Barellan (L)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
  9. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Barellan (L)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
  10. "CWA Rest House". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H01876. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC-BY 4.0 licence.
  11. Dennis Passa, NSW town makes a racquet for Goolagong', Brisbane Times, 3 October 2009
  12. Barellan Central School
  13. Riverina Access Partnership

Media related to Barellan at Wikimedia Commons

Preceding station Former Services Following station
Garoolgan
towards Roto
Temora- Roto Line Moombooldool
towards Temora
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