Bunyan, New South Wales

Bunyan is a locality in the Snowy Monaro Region, New South Wales, Australia.[2][3] It lies on the eastern side of the Murrumbidgee River and on both sides of the Monaro Highway about 110 km south of Canberra and about 10 km north of Cooma. At the 2016 census, it had a population of 152.[4]

Bunyan
New South Wales
Closed Bombala railway line, looking towards Bunyan station
Bunyan is located in New South Wales
Bunyan
Bunyan
Location in New South Wales
Coordinates36°09′57″S 149°09′02″E
Population192 (SAL 2021)[1]
Postcode(s)2630
Elevation744 m (2,441 ft)
Location
LGA(s)Snowy Monaro Regional Council
RegionMonaro
CountyBeresford
ParishBunyan
State electorate(s)Monaro
Federal division(s)Eden-Monaro
Localities around Bunyan:
Murrumbucca Chakola Rose Valley
Murrumbucca Bunyan Numeralla
Binjura Cooma Middle Flat

The area now known as Bunyan lies on the traditional lands of Ngarigo people. The name is said to be from an Aboriginal language word, Boonyan, meaning "Place where pigeons stay".[5][6][7]

Lying on the direct route from Queanbeyan to the Monaro hinterland and with flats suited to grazing, it was a suitable site for colonial settlement. The first settler there was Dr Reid, in the early 1830s, and the area was known as Reid's Flats until 1858. There was an inn there from around 1832. The area was also known locally as 'Jews' Flats'. From the 1830s until at least the mid-1850s, there were businesses there run by Jewish families named Solomon, Moses and Shannon. The last hotel there, 'the Squatters' Arms' was last run by John Cullen, after which it became a private residence. The settlement became known as Bunyan in 1858.[6]

Lying close to Cooma, Bunyan was eclipsed by the growing town, and it is now a very small settlement consisting of a few old buildings and some ruins. The area is predominantly rural.

Bunyan had a school from 1895 to 1901 and from 1910 to 1936.[8]

Bunyan railway station opened with the extension of the Bombala railway line on 31 May 1889 and was closed on 8 February 1976.[9] The Cooma Monaro Railway operated rail motors on the line from Chakola to Cooma from 1998 to 2014, but this operation is currently suspended due to the condition of the track.[10]

References
  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Bunyan (Suburb and Locality)". Australian Census 2021 QuickStats. Retrieved 28 June 2022. 
  2. "Bunyan". Geographical Names Register (GNR) of NSW. Geographical Names Board of New South Wales. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  3. "Bunyan". OpenStreetMap. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  4. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Bunyan". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  5. Studies, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (28 July 2023). "Map of Indigenous Australia". aiatsis.gov.au. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  6. "BUNYAN". www.monaropioneers.com. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
  7. "NSW Railway Station Names and Origins". www.nswrail.net. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
  8. "Bunyan". nswgovschoolhistory.cese.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  9. "Bunyan station". NSWrail.net. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  10. "What's New!". Cooma Monaro Railway. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
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