Couridjah, New South Wales
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2015}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2015}}
{{Infobox Australian place
| type = suburb
| image = Couridjah station NSW.jpg
| name = Couridjah
| pop = 303
| pop_year = {{CensusAU|2016}}
| pop_footnotes = {{Census 2016 AUS|id=SSC11093|name=Couridjah |accessdate=13 July 2017|quick=on}}
| elevation = 346
| region = Macarthur
| state = nsw
| coordinates = {{coord|34|14|S|150|33|E|display=inline,title}}
| pushpin_label_position = right
| lga = Wollondilly Shire
| postcode = 2571
| stategov = Wollondilly
| fedgov = Macarthur
| dist1 = 103
| dir1 = SW
| location1 = Sydney CBD
| dist2 = 8
| dir2 = SW
| location2 = Picton
| dist3 = 33
| dir3 = NNE
| location3 = Mittagong
| near-n = Tahmoor
| near-nw = Thirlmere
| near-w = Thirlmere Lakes National Park
| near-s = Buxton
| near-se = Bargo
}}
Couridjah is a small town in the Macarthur Region of New South Wales, Australia, in Wollondilly Shire. It was previously known officially as "Village of Couridjah".{{NSW GNR|id=JPckoexOKW|title=Couridjah|accessdate=10 October 2013}} At the {{CensusAU|2016}}, Couridjah had a population of 303.
History
{{multiple image
| align = left
| direction = horizontal
| image1 = Pumphouse Thirlmere Lakes NSW.jpg
| width1 = {{#expr: (100 * 1024 / 683) round 0}}
| alt1 = Stone pumphouse at Thirlmere Lakes
| caption1 =
| image2 = Standpipes_Couridjah_Station.jpg
| width2 = {{#expr: (100 * 1024 / 804) round 0}}
| alt2 = Standpipes at Couridjah
| caption2 =
| footer = Pumphouse and standpipes
| footer_align = center
}}
The name "Couridjah" has been variously reported to mean, in a local Aboriginal language, anything from "The Place of the White Ants" to "The Home of the Medicine Man".Meredith, John. 1989. The last kooradgie : Moyengully, chief man of the Gundungurra people. Kenthurst: Kangaroo Press. {{ISBN|0-86417-235-4}}. Meredith points to the interesting similarity of "kooradgie" and "chirurgeon".
Couridjah was formerly a station on the Main Southern Railway. At the time of the line's construction, it was known as "Jones's Hut". That line was deviated in 1919 to a less steep alignment with easier grades, and the original line became the Picton-Mittagong Loop line. Thirlmere Lakes, to the west of the station, supplied water to the standpipes at Couridjah for replenishing steam locomotives, after their long haul up the steep grade from Picton.Bayley, W. A. 1973 Picton-Mittagong Loop-Line Railway. pp.26-27 Bulli: Austrail. {{ISBN|0-909597-14-6}} Bayley also cites the spelling as 'Coradgery'.Wright, "Picton Locomotive Depot" The lakes were formerly known as the "Coridja Lagoons" and "Picton Lagoons".Bayley, W. A. 1975. Picton-Mittagong Main Line Railway. p. 17-18 Bulli: Austrail. {{ISBN|0-909597-15-4}} The sandstone pump-house is still in existence adjacent to the Lakes. The standpipes, too, remain near the station, but have been disused since 1964.
Heritage listings
Couridjah has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
Couridjah today
The platform and the small waiting room have been restored and are maintained by volunteers from the NSW Rail Museum at Thirlmere, though none of the Heritage trains which still use sections of the Picton Loop line stops there.
The station and platform were featured in a television advertisement for "Minties" lollies.
The main premises of the Tharawal Local Aboriginal Land Council are located at Couridjah.{{cite web |url=http://www.tharawal.com.au/landcouncil.html |title=Tharawal Local Aboriginal Land Council |accessdate=2010-05-03 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091030092233/http://www.tharawal.com.au/landcouncil.html |archivedate=30 October 2009 |df=dmy-all }} It is also the location of Picton Lakes Village, a settlement established in 1925 for sufferers of tuberculosis.Public Health Notes #34, April 1940. Central Board of Health Adelaide. Retrieved 3 May 2010 from http://www.publications.health.sa.gov.au/pubhen/34/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091009111835/http://www.publications.health.sa.gov.au/pubhen/34/ |date=9 October 2009 }}
Couridjah has no shop, post office, or any other public building, nor any main street. It is chiefly a semi-rural residential area, among which are some small orchards and poultry farms.
References
{{Reflist}}
Bibliography
- Chalk, Karyn. 20078. A brief history of Couridjah in the Wollondilly Shire of New South Wales Australia. New South Wales : Lulu. {{ISBN|978-1-4092-7612-8}}
- Wright, Harry. "Picton Locomotive Depot and the Picton-Mittagong Loop Line", Roundhouse Vol. 41, No. 2, April, 2004. pp. 5–15
External links
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSlcRVmWKdU Minties confectionery ad. filmed at Couridjah Station in 1985]
- [http://www.wollondilly.nsw.gov.au/ Wollondilly Shire Council]
- [http://www.wollondillyshire.com.au/ Wollondilly Shire towns and villages info]
{{Sydney Wollondilly suburbs}}
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