Baradine

The area was originally inhabited by the Gamilaroi tribe of Aboriginal peoples, and first settled by Europeans in the late 1830s and was proclaimed a village in 1865. Baradine's name appears to have been derived from an Aboriginal word for "red wallaby".{{NSW GNR|id=KWQloeKmSX|title=Baradine|accessdate=10 June 2009}}

European occupation of the Baradine district commenced in the 1830s with the establishment by Andrew Brown of a pastoral run named 'Barradean'. The run was taken up on behalf of James Walker of Wallerawang, and operated as an outstation of the 'Goorianawa' run (near the head of the Castlereagh River).Eric Rolls (1981), A Million Wild Acres: 200 Years of Man and an Australian Forest, Melbourne: Nelson, page 117. The Walker family held the 'Barradean' run until 1867 when it was sold to Edward Cox. Other early landholders in the area included Charles Fitsimmons at 'Bugaldie Yaminginba' and James Evans at 'Dandry' in the 1840s.Ray Christison (2006), page 52.

In the early 1860s a settlement was surveyed on the west bank of Barradine Creek on a portion of the 'Barradean' run, at the convergence of tracks connecting local pastoral runs and used as a camping ground for teamsters.Ray Christison (2006), page 53.[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/142187490 In the North West], Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate, 8 August 1899, page 5. In April 1862 a 40-acre reserve was proclaimed at the location.[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/225232158/12572518 Reserve From Lease], New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney), 17 April 1862 (Issue No. 72 Supplement), page 776. Land sales began to be held in 1865 and by 1866 the village of Baradine had thirty inhabitants.Ray Christison (2006), page 53; citing J. Howlett (1965), They Came to Baradine. The first hotel at the village was established by Henry Border in the 1860s.Joy Pickette and Mervyn Campbell (1983), Coonabarabran, As It Was in the Beginning: a History of Coonabarabran to 1900.

Baradine Post Office opened on 1 January 1867.{{Cite web | last = Phoenix Auctions History | title = Post Office List | publisher = Phoenix Auctions | url = http://www.phoenixauctions.com.au/cgi-bin/wsPhoenix.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=NSW&filter=*Baradine* | access-date = 24 January 2021 }} The telegraph office was open at Baradine in August 1876, "to the great satisfaction of the residents".[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/70603564 Baradine], Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney), 19 August 1876, page 6.

In 1899 the settlement of Baradine was described as "a couple of hotels, a school, store, and post and telegraph office, with a dozen or so of dwellings". In the vicinity of the village were "a considerable number of selections". Baradine was at "the edge of an immense tract of forest country" stretching to Boggabri to the east and Pillaga to the north-west.

Baradine is located on the Gwabegar railway line, which was closed north of Binnaway, New South Wales in 2005. The railway reached Baradine in 1923 and the station was closed in 1985.{{Anchor|Railway}} By rail, Baradine is 563 kilometres from Sydney. Baradine is directly linked by road to Coonabarabran, Walgett, and Coonamble which is 68 km to the west from Baradine.

{{Historical populations

|type= Australia

|1966|751

|1971|730

|1976|756

|1981|723

|1986|656

|1991|657

|1996|609

|2001|696

|2006|593

|2011|762

|2016|626

|2021|586

|source=Australian Bureau of Statistics data.{{cite web |title=Statistics by Catalogue Number |publisher=Australian Bureau of Statistics |url=https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/ViewContent?readform&view=ProductsbyCatalogue&Action=Expand&Num=2.2 |access-date=22 January 2024}}{{cite web |title=Search Census data |publisher=Australian Bureau of Statistics |url=https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/search-by-area |access-date=22 January 2024}}

}}

Baradine is the administrative centre of the Pilliga Scrub, whose history is documented in A Million Wild Acres by local farmer Eric Rolls in the 1970s.

The State forests and National Park reserves of the Pilliga are part of a vast and unusual woodland, famous for its cypress pine, its broom plains, its vivid spring wildflowers, its koalas and a rich supply of honey-bearing flora. In a state where eucalypt forests dominate the landscape, the Pilliga offers scenery that is distinctly different.

The State forests and National Park reserves of the Pilliga stretch across the flat, sandy plains between the Warrumbungle Mountains near Coonabarabran in the south and the Namoi River near Narrabri in the north, the single largest area of continuous forest west of the Great Dividing Range. The forests have a long history of harvesting for termite-resistant white cypress pine and durable ironbark.{{cite web|url=http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/forests/recreation/outback |title=Outback | NSW Department of Primary Industries |accessdate=2011-09-25 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111124171413/http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/forests/recreation/outback |archivedate=2011-11-24 }}

Baradine is in the Warrumbungle Shire Local Government Area, centred in Coonabarabran. It is a really friendly town with much to offer both visitors and locals. Baradine has two hotels with accommodation, a great caravan park with group cabin accommodation, Bed & Breakfast, two cafes, bowling & recreation club (with squash courts), skate park opened 2020 at the playing fields, an amazing National Parks and Wildlife Discovery Centre, a mechanical workshop/fuel station, a hospital with attached medical centre, a CRT rural supplies merchant, a fantastic IGA supermarket, a chemist, swimming pool (seasonal), lively Catholic and Anglican churches with regular services, police station, post office, pre-school and two schools - St John's Catholic Primary School and Baradine Central School. Active Rural Fire Service and State Emergency Service, plus Country Women's Association, Progress Association and Keeping Place run by the Baradine Local Aboriginal Land Council.

Baradine Central School provides for children from Kindergarten to Year 12. Students are drawn from the immediate township, surrounding properties and the villages of Kenebri and Gwabegar. Their Agriculture Program produces many successful entries in the surrounding local agricultural shows.

Baradine is located in the heart of the Pilliga forest, known for harvesting the Australian white cypress-pine which is a termite-resistant timber. This activity has been reduced as large parts of the forest are now fully conserved. The local area is a bird watching paradise, and local attractions such as the Sculptures in the Scrub and the Pilliga Bore Bath (70km north) mean that travelers find much to do in this tiny town. Baradine has a proud agricultural history, with many farming and grazing areas in the district.

Baradine Magpies play in the Castlereagh Cup rugby league competition.

• Anglican: St Andrew's
• Catholic: St John's

{{Adjacent stations

|system1=State Rail Authority

|line3=Gwabegar|left3=Kenebri|right3=Wittenbra

}}

The station was closed in 1985{{Cite web | title = Gwabegar line description | publisher = NSWrail.net | url = http://nswrail.net/lines/show.php?name=NSW:gwabegar | accessdate = 2013-11-21}} and demolished shortly afterwards.

• Craig Emerson, Australian economist and former politician
• Tony Johnston, Australian television presenter, producer and radio broadcaster

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Sources

• Ray Christison (2006), 'Thematic History of the Former Coonabarabran Shire', published by the Warrumbungle Shire Council, pages 52-53.

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• [http://www.nswrail.net/lines/show.php?name=NSW:gwabegar History of the Gwabegar railway line] - NSWRail.net
• [http://www.dlg.nsw.gov.au/dlg/dlghome/dlg_CouncilContactDetails.asp?slacode=8020 Warrumbungle Shire Council] - Website
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070701202449/http://www.coonabarabran.com/baradine/index.htm Baradine Progress Association] - Website

{{Towns and Villages in Warrumbungle Shire}}

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Category:Towns in New South Wales

Category:Warrumbungle Shire