Coolringdon
{{Use Australian English|date=June 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date = November 2019}}
{{Infobox Australian place
|type=town
|stategov=Monaro
|near-sw=Berridale
|near-s=Arable
|near-se=Rock Flat
|near-e=Pine Valley
|near-ne=Dairymans Plains
|near-n=Wambrook
|near-nw=Rhine Falls
|near-w=Middlingbank
|location2=Canberra
|dir2=S
|dist2=124
|location1=Cooma
|dir1=W
|dist1=12
|fedgov=Eden-Monaro
|area=
|name=Coolringdon
|lga=Snowy Monaro Regional Council
|state=nsw
|image=Coolringdon NSW 2630, Australia - panoramio (3).jpg|caption=Kosciuszko Road, Coolringdon
|coordinates={{coord|36|15|03|S|149|00|55|E|display=inline,title}}
|pushpin_label_position=right
|local_map=yes|pushpin_map_caption=Location in New South Wales
|county=Beresford
|est=
|parish=Coolringdon
|region=Southern Tablelands
|postcode=2630
|pop=73
|pop_year={{CensusAU|2021}}
|pop_footnotes={{Census 2021 AUS | id = SAL11033| name = Coolringdon | quick = on | accessdate = 3 June 2023}}
}}
Coolringdon is a locality in the Local Government Area of the Snowy Monaro Regional Council, in the Monaro region of New South Wales, Australia. It lies in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains, west of Cooma. At the {{CensusAU|2021}}, there were 73 people usually residing in Coolringdon. The Cooma-Snowy Mountains Airport is located within the locality. Coolringdon is notable as being one of the proposed sites for Australia's national capital, prior to the selection of Canberra.{{Cite web|title=FEDERAL CAPITAL: PROPOSED SITES, 1904. - SOUTHERN MONARO DISTRICT. SECOND REPORT (WITH PLANS), BY C. R. SCRIVENER, SURVEYOR.|url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2772888215|access-date=2021-09-19|website=Trove|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Scrivener|first=C. R. (Charles Robert)|date=1904|title=Southern Monaro [cartographic material].|url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-233896381|access-date=2021-09-19|website=Trove|language=en}}
History
The area now known as Coolringdon lies on the traditional lands of the Ngarigo people.{{Cite web|last=Studies|first=Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander|date=2021-09-09|title=Map of Indigenous Australia|url=https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/map-indigenous-australia|access-date=2021-09-19|website=aiatsis.gov.au|language=en}} Called 'Coolerandong' by early colonial settlers, it is likely that the name of Coolringdon is derived from an Aboriginal language word that has been anglicised.
The area lay outside the Nineteen Counties, and settlers had no legal right—even under colonial law—to occupy land there, until 1836, after which grazing rights could be obtained by payment of a licence fee.
File:Coolringdon Homestead circa 1900.jpg
The locality takes its name from a sheep station of the same name, which dates from 1829, and was one of the earliest colonial settlements in the Monaro. It was taken up as a squatting run by Stewart Ryrie, Deputy Commissary General of N.S.W. and patriarch of the Ryrie family of colonial settlers. By 1845, it was being managed by Stewart Ryrie's son, Stewart Ryrie, Jun., on behalf of its new owner, Dr Francis Lascelles Wallace, Stewart Ryrie's son-in-law.{{Cite web|title=STEWART RYRIE|url=http://www.monaropioneers.com/ryriesj.htm|access-date=2021-09-20|website=www.monaropioneers.com}}
Later, it was a part of the extensive landholdings of William Bradley, and then once again returned to the Wallace family, the three nephews of Dr. F. L. Wallace.{{Cite news |date=1925-07-31 |title=The Late Mr. H. Wallace. |pages=2 |work=Manaro Mercury, and Cooma and Bombala Advertiser |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article128924623 |access-date=2023-06-09}}
It is now owned and managed, by the John and Betty Casey Research Trust, as a working farm promoting best practice primary production and land management, and to preserve the historic homestead and garden.{{Cite web|title=Coolringdon - Website - Local Land Services|url=https://www.lls.nsw.gov.au/help-and-advice/land-management-in-nsw/on-the-ground-examples/coolringdon|access-date=2021-09-19|website=www.lls.nsw.gov.au}}{{Cite web|last=Burns|first=Stephen|date=2021-07-20|title=Coolringdon leads research on the Monaro|url=http://www.theland.com.au/story/7272286/coolringdon-leads-research-on-the-monaro/|access-date=2021-09-19|website=The Land|language=en-AU}}
A public school was established in 1879 and operated until 1918.{{Cite web|title=Coolringdon|url=https://nswgovschoolhistory.cese.nsw.gov.au/schoolHistory?schoolId=2082|access-date=2021-09-19|website=nswgovschoolhistory.cese.nsw.gov.au}}
Attractions
The well preserved Coolringdon Homestead is over 190 years old and is renowned for its heritage garden and school house.{{Cite web|last=Dixon|first=Trisha|date=1998|title=COOLRINGDON GARDEN - Monaro, N.S.W.|url=https://www.gardenhistorysociety.org.au/wp-content/uploads/1998/03/CoolringdonGarden.pdf|url-status=live|publisher=Australian Garden History Society|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180320004833/https://www.gardenhistorysociety.org.au/wp-content/uploads/1998/03/CoolringdonGarden.pdf |archive-date=20 March 2018 }}
The Snowy River Sphere, a sculpture by artist Richard Moffatt, is made from steel beams left over from construction of the Skitube Alpine Railway and inspired by the rivers, ski runs and indigenous pathways of the region. It was commissioned by the Snowy River Shire Council to mark the gateway to the region and installed at Coolringdon beside the Kosciuszko Road in 2011.{{cite web|url=https://www.snowymonaro.nsw.gov.au/Community/Vibrant-Communities/Arts-and-Culture/Public-Art/Snowy-River-Sphere|title=Snowy River Sphere|publisher=Snowy Monaro Regional Council|accessdate=3 June 2023}}