Stuart Town, New South Wales

Stuart Town, formerly known as Ironbark, is a small town on the Central Western Slopes of New South Wales, Australia within Dubbo Regional Council. It is located 317 kilometres (197 mi) north-west of the state capital, Sydney. At the 2011 census, Stuart Town had a population of 487.[1] The area around the town is rich in cattle farming and orchards, so the town serves as a service centre to that area.

Stuart Town
New South Wales
Stuart Town, overlooking the railway station
Stuart Town is located in New South Wales
Stuart Town
Stuart Town
Coordinates32°48′0″S 149°05′0″E
Population487 (2011 census)[1]
Postcode(s)2820
Elevation548 m (1,798 ft)
Location
LGA(s)Dubbo Regional Council
State electorate(s)Dubbo
Federal division(s)Parkes

It has a public school[2] and Catholic and Anglican churches.

History

The area now known as Stuart Town lies within the traditional lands of the Wiradjuri people.[3]

The village was formerly called Ironbark and was established following the discovery of gold in the area in the early 1850s[4] with the heyday of gold mining being in the late 1850s and 1860s.[5][6] The gold attracted bushrangers to the area.[7]

It was renamed Stuart Town in 1879—with the arrival of the Main Western railway from Sydney—after Sir Alexander Stuart.[4]

Gold mining in the area was revived, from 1899 and during first decade of the 20th century, when gold dredge mining of the nearby Macquarie River bed and sediments was carried out.[8]

It has benefitted from its proximity to Lake Burrendong.

Stuart Town is often claimed to be the birthplace of the former New South Wales Premier Sir Robert Askin. In fact, he was born at Glebe in Sydney, but he did spend much of his childhood at Stuart Town.

Its original name, Ironbark, is used in the Banjo Paterson poem "The Man from Ironbark". It conducts an annual Man from Ironbark Festival.[9]

Heritage listings

Stuart Town has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

Transport

Stuart Town station is served by a daily NSW TrainLink XPT service which runs between Sydney and Dubbo.[11]

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stuart Town, New South Wales.
  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Stuart Town (State Suburb)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  2. Ironbarks School
  3. "Tindale Tribes - Wiradjuri". archives.samuseum.sa.gov.au. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  4. "Stuart Town - Our history". www.holidayhunter.com.au. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  5. "IRONBARK AND WELLINGTON ROAD DIGGINGS". Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954). 5 April 1858. p. 3. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  6. "IRONBARK". Bathurst Free Press and Mining Journal (NSW : 1851 - 1904). 27 June 1860. p. 2. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  7. "BUSHRANGING". Newcastle Chronicle and Hunter River District News (NSW : 1859 - 1866). 28 February 1866. p. 6. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  8. "GOLD-DREDGING ON THE MACQUARIE RIVER". Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912). 12 April 1905. p. 925. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  9. Welcome to Stuart Town
  10. "Stuart Town Railway Station group". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H01253. 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. "Western timetable". NSW TrainLink. 7 September 2019.


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