Tamworth
The Kamilaroi people were the first inhabitants of the Tamworth region before any European settlement. Their place in the history was just the beginning of the cities future.
Like all good stories, Tamworth has it's 'once upon a time too'...
The first white man to explore the Tamworth district was Lt. John Oxley R.N. Surveyor General, who was accompanied by 15 men in 1818. He named the river that now runs through Tamworth the Peel River after English Prime Minister Robert Peel, whose name is also that of the main street and one of the local High Schools today.
The first squatters came to the district in 1830 and they soon developed the first sheep and cattle stations.In 1834 after the Australian Agricultural Company took up more than 127,000 hectares (313,298 acres) on the western side of the Peel River with 6000 sheep. Other settlers gradually built up a town on the eastern side of the river.
Tamworth was named after Sir Robert Peel's electorate of Tamworth in Staffordshire, England and Tamworth, Australia was declared a town in 1850.
The discovery of gold at Hanging Rock in 1851 brought even more settlers to the area, seeing the further development of Tamworth.
During the 1860's a number of new businesses flourished in the town including flourmills and associated housing developments. The Northern District Police district was established also with its headquarters based in Tamworth.Tamworth was proclaimed a borough in March 1876.
Its first mayor was Philip Gidley King, who was superintendent of the Australian Agricultural Company's Peel River Land and Mineral Company which had its headquarters at Goonoo Goonoo Station. King built a small town residence which is now part of Calala Cottage Museum in Denison Street, Tamworth. The museum houses a range of exhibits telling the story of Tamworth's past.
The railway came to Tamworth in 1878, gas was introduced in 1881, and the town became the first in the southern hemisphere to have electric street lighting in 1888. Water supplies were firstly from wells on the Peel River. Dungowan Dam was built in 1957 followed by Chaffey Dam in 1979. Over the years droughts and floods have affected the Peel Valley, but the resilience of the region's population has always overcome these natural adversities.
Be sure to see how Tamworth Historical Society is keeping the area’s history alive at Tamworth’s first residence, the Calala Cottage Museum. It includes the Shepherd’s Hut – a slab building from about 1840 which it the city’s oldest surviving building – the Beehive School (the original 1883 Moonbi Public School) which contains many interesting educational items, Dalyville (a slab building) which has displays of early telephones, photographic equipment and household items, a working blacksmith’s shop which is occasionally operated and a coach house which has a range of displays relating to the era when the horse was the main form of transport. Calala Cottage is open Tuesday to Friday, 2pm-4pm, weekends 10am-4pm or by appointment.
Anyone interested in Australia’s wartime history can immerse themselves in memorials that pay tribute to those who have served Australia. They include Anzac Park (bounded by Brisbane, Upper, Fitzroy and Napier Sts) with its Anzac Gates and Sandakan Memorial, the War Memorial Cemetery (Forest Rd), Gipps Street War Memorial Avenue (between Ebsworth and Gipps Sts) and The Australian Light Horse Memorial bronze sculpture in Bicentennial Park (Kable Ave).
Tamworth was the first town in the southern hemisphere to light its streets by electricity in 1888. A larger Power Station was established due to the high demand of electricity. The Tamworth Power Station Museum tells the story of the city's role in the development of electric street lighting, from the early days of oil lamps in 1876 and gas lamps in 1882, through to the installation of the first electric lights in November, 1888. The museum has one of the nation's largest collections of early 20th century electrical appliances.
Proclaimed a city in 1946, Tamworth was built on the wealth of agriculture. Today, among its many facets, the Tamworth region has a thriving industrial area, a regional training hospital, a Conservatorium of Music, and a flight training college at its busy airport. Each January, Tamworth hosts the world renowned Country Music Festival, one of the largest of its kind in the world.
