Tallong, New South Wales

Infobox Australian Place | type = town
name = Tallong
state = nsw


caption = Tallong Railway Station, which opened in 1869
lga = Goulburn-Mulwaree Council
postcode = 2579
est =
pop = 704 [Census 2006 AUS | id = SSC18949 | name = Tallong (State Suburb) | quick = on | accessdate=2007-11-30]
pop_footnotes=
elevation= 448
elevation_footnotes= [cite web| title=Tallong, Australia| publisher=Falling Rain Genomics Inc.| month=November| year=2007| url=http://www.fallingrain.com/world/AS/2/Tallong.html| accessdate=2007-11-30]
maxtemp =
mintemp =
rainfall =
stategov = Goulburn
fedgov = Hume
dist1 = 8
dir1 = east
location1= Marulan
dist2 = 31
dir2 = east
location2= Goulburn

Tallong is a village in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia.

Etymology

The original settlement was named Barber's Creek after the watercourse that runs through the town. In the early twentieth century the town was renamed "Tallong" after an Aboriginal word meaning either "tongue" or "spring of water". [cite web| title=Geographic Names Register:Tallong| publisher=Geographical Names Board of New South Wales| month=November| year=2007| url=http://www.gnb.nsw.gov.au/name_search/extract?id=TRlpXtsyJP| accessdate=2007-11-30]

History

Colonial era

The first European settler in the area was George Barber, a cattle farmer. In 1814 Barber established a cattle station along what became known as Barber's Creek.cite web| title=Tallong History| publisher=The Southern Highlands Online| month=November| year=2007| url=http://www.thesouthernhighlands.com.au/towns/tallong/tallong-history| accessdate=2007-11-30] In 1821 he received a grant of 300 acres covering the general Tallong-Marulan district, to be converted from cedar brush to farmland. Before his death in a riding accident in 1844, Barber had extended his local landholdings to 4000 acres, which he named "Glenrock". He is buried in the Old Marulan Cemetery in Marulan.

In the late 1820s, that portion of Barber's land that would eventually become the township was sold or reallocated to Sydney entrepreneur and mariner Billy Blue.cite web| title=Mulwaree Shire Community Heritage Study (Part 5)| publisher=Goulburn Mulwaree Council| year=2004| url=http://www.goulburn.nsw.gov.au/files/1974/File/Mulher5.pdf| accessdate=2007-11-30] Convict labour was used to clear the grazing land and prepare a route for the Southern Highlands railway line to Goulburn. Tallong was selected as the location for a railway refuelling point, and the town's initial population consisted of convicts, woodcutters, railway workers and their families.

The opening of the railway in 1869 brought shops, a school, hotels and a post office to the town.

Post-Federation

By 1900, cattle grazing was slowly giving way to a thriving fruit industry, known particularly for apples and pears. The village sent an annual exhibit of a tall pyramid of fruit to the Sydney Royal Easter Show; Tallong's apples and pears took top honours several times throughout the early part of the twentieth century.

The population reached 200 in 1920, and a Memorial Hall was constructed to mark the town's growth and record the servise of local residents in World War One. The Hall and war memorial are still standing today.

In 1955 the Australian poet and novelist Seaforth Mackenzie drowned while attempting to swim across Tallong (formerly Barber's) Creek near the town.

Tallong was destroyed in the Chatsbury bushfire of 1965. Its economy did not fully recover and the award-winning fruit industry folded. Many residents moved and the post office and a number of small businesses closed.

Tallong today

Modern Tallong is saved from obscurity by a few unique factors.

In 1997 the discovery of the Tallong Midge Orchid ("Genoplesium plumosum"), a tiny flower that grows nowhere else on earth, brought the village to the attention of botanists and conservationists. This orchid is now a protected species. [cite web
title =Genoplesium plumosum (a terrestrial orchid) - endangered species listing
publisher =Department of Environment and Climate Change
date =18 July 1997
url =http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/npws.nsf/Content/Genoplesium+plumosum+a+terrestrial+orchid+endangered+species+listing
accessdate = 2007-02-05 ] [cite web
title =Corunastylis plumosum Plumed Midge-orchid
publisher =Department of the Environment and Water Resources
date =
url =http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/npws.nsf/Content/Genoplesium+plumosum+a+terrestrial+orchid+endangered+species+listing
accessdate = 2007-02-05 ]

The town is also home to the oldest surviving single-teacher schoolhouse in Australia at Tallong Public School, and to the country campus of Santa Sabina College.

There are two splendid lookouts over the Shoalhaven Gorge (a 1500-foot drop to the Shoalhaven River) and Morton National Park; Badgery’s Lookout and Longpoint Lookout, both of which attract day trippers. The annual Tallong Trail Ride in support of the Rural Fire Service attracts riders from as far away as Sydney.

Industries and demographics

Principal industries include stud farms, arts and crafts and services for surrounding farms. Tallong is also within commuting distance of the neighbouring towns of Goulburn, Moss Vale and Mittagong

It has significant populations of older residents who are pensioners (retirees) and weekend residents who use the Southern Highlands as a retreat from the fast pace of city life. The town is relaibly conservative, with 63 percent of residents supporting the Coalition in the 2004 election and 54 percent in the 2007 poll. [cite web| title=House of Representatives Results: NSW Division of Hume| publisher=Australian Election Commission| month=November| year=2007| url=http://results.aec.gov.au/13745/website/HouseDivisionFirstPrefs-13745-125.htm| accessdate=2007-11-30]

The 21st Century boom in the real estate market in Sydney brought the affordable land in the Southern Villages to the attention of home buyers, investors and speculators. Property value has almost tripled in some areas. According to the postal service, postal drops have increased by 100 households over the last two years, more than a 33% increase.

References

Further reading

*"The Tallong Public School", Peter Westren, ed., privately published, Tallong: 1990.
*"Southern Village View Magazine", Published Quarterly by the Southern Village View Association Inc. Wingello, NSW.

ee also

* Wingello Parish, Camden
* Tallong Public School
* Tallong railway station, New South Wales

External links

* [http://highlandway.com.au/tallong.htm An article on the history and description of Tallong]