Tarcutta

The Tarcutta area was first visited by the European explorers Hume and Hovell as they passed through on their way from Sydney to Port Phillip in the Colony of Victoria. On 7 January 1825, near the present site of Tarcutta, they met a group of Wiradjuri aborigines.

A decade after this first European contact around 1835–37, "Hambledon", a U-shaped slab house was built at Tarcutta. It was the first inn and post office to be built between Gundagai and Albury. Tarcutta Post Office opened on 1 January 1849.{{Cite web | last = Premier Postal History | title = Post Office List | url = https://www.premierpostal.com/cgi-bin/wsProd.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=NSW&country= | access-date = 11 June 2009}}

Among the earliest settlers was Thomas Hodges Mate. Mate was Tarcutta's earliest innkeeper, as well as its first post-master.{{Cite web|title=Death of Mr Thomas Mate|work=Wagga Wagga Express |date=1894 |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article145209691}} Mate's daughter Annie claimed that 'tarcutta' was a Wiradjuri word meaning 'a food prepared by grinding grass seed'.{{Cite web|title=A Centenarian Looks Back|work=Border Morning Mail |date=2 March 1940 |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article255119405}}

Gold was mined in the area round Tarcutta, with limited success.{{Cite web|title=Gold from Neves Gold Mine, Tarcutta, Wynyard Co., New South Wales, Australia|url=https://www.mindat.org/locentry-422750.html|access-date=2020-09-19|website=mindat.org}}{{Cite web|title=ADELONG NEWS. – THE TARCUTTA GOLD-FIELD. – The Gundagai Times and Tumut, Adelong and Murrumbidgee District Advertiser (NSW : 1868 – 1931) – 10 Aug 1880|work=Gundagai Times and Tumut, Adelong and Murrumbidgee District Advertiser |date=1880 |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article127638590|access-date=2020-09-20|via=Trove|language=en}}{{Cite news|date=1904-12-31|title=GOLD AT TARCUTTA.|pages=2|work=Wagga Wagga Express (NSW : 1879 – 1917)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article145185150|access-date=2020-09-20}}

By the 1880s Tarcutta locals were actively lobbying for a rail branch line from Wagga Wagga to Tumbarumba via Tarcutta, and in 1917 the Tumbarumba branch line became a reality. A section of the line sustained major flood damage in 1974, and the remainder of the line was closed in 1987.

The Tarcutta bypass is west of the village, linking-up to the freeway {{convert|3|km|mi}} to the north of the village and {{convert|3|km|mi}} south of the village. It was opened to traffic on 15 November 2011.{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-15/truck-stop-in-doubt-as-bypass-opens/3666718|title=Truck stop in doubt as bypass opens|date=15 November 2011|publisher=ABC News|location=Australia|access-date=15 November 2011}}

Tarcutta is situated halfway between Sydney and Melbourne on the Hume Highway, and has long been popular in the trucking industry as a stopping and changeover point for drivers.

The local park houses the National Truck Drivers' Memorial to the truck drivers who have died on the infamous local stretch of the Hume Highway, as well as around the country. The country singer, Slim Dusty, endorsed the memorial with a plaque. A commemorative event is held annually in October.{{Cite web|url=https://www.tarcuttamemorial.com/|title=Tarcutta Memorial|website=tarcuttamemorial.com|access-date=2020-03-18}}

The local café, which has sustained generations of truckies, has also been the source of inspiration for some of Australia's recent modern poets, Les Murray and Bruce Dawe. Murray wrote "The Burning Truck" while visiting the café in 1961 and Dawe immortalised the eatery in a couple of lines in his poem "Under Way". The poem reads in part: 'there would be days / banging open and shut like the wire door of the cafe in Tarcutta / where the flies sang at the windows'.

There had been extensive political arguing since 1999 between Federal and State Governments over funding and where to site a proposed Tarcutta truck changeover facility. It was finally decided to place it off the main street and the project which was completed early 2007 was jointly funded at a cost of $6.5m.{{cite web | title = Tarcutta Truck and Trailer Interchange Facility | work = Australian Government | publisher = Australian Government – DOTARS | date = 14 May 2007 | url = http://www.auslink.gov.au/projects/ProjectDetails.aspx?Project_id=NAN001 | access-date = 16 June 2007}} Truck drivers are required to stop for 30 minutes every five hours.

Tarcutta has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

• Tarcutta Street: Hambledon Homestead{{cite NSW SHR|5045015|Hambledon Homestead|hr=00351|fn=S90/05528 & HC 32716|access-date=18 May 2018}}

Tarcutta is also the birthplace of former Grand Slam champion tennis player Tony Roche. A left-hander, Roche had a successful singles and double career and won 12 Grand Slam men's doubles tournaments.

Located nearby is the {{convert|432|ha|acre|adj=on}} Tarcutta Hills Reserve, owned and managed by Bush Heritage Australia. This reserve provides an important remnant of white box woodland with a relatively untouched grassy understory: a last refuge for the squirrel glider, endangered birds like the swift parrot, and as many as 11 other threatened wildlife species. The site is listed on the Register of the National Estate.

In 1969, the Tarcutta Rugby League side became the Group 13 Rugby League premiers. Their superior season also saw them crowned as the Clayton Cup winners for 1969.

{{Weather box

|location = Tarcutta Post Office (1872–2020)

|metric first = yes

|single line = yes

|precipitation colour=green

|Jan precipitation mm = 47.8

|Feb precipitation mm = 40.7

|Mar precipitation mm = 47.6

|Apr precipitation mm = 48.4

|May precipitation mm = 57.1

|Jun precipitation mm = 68.2

|Jul precipitation mm = 64.2

|Aug precipitation mm = 65.8

|Sep precipitation mm = 56.0

|Oct precipitation mm = 66.0

|Nov precipitation mm = 53.9

|Dec precipitation mm = 47.1

|year precipitation mm = 663.9

|source 1 = {{cite web|title=Monthly rainfall|url=http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/cdio/weatherData/av?p_nccObsCode=139&p_display_type=dataFile&p_stn_num=072042|work=Bureau of Meteorology|access-date=5 January 2011}}

}}

File:Tarcutta original truckie memorial.JPG

{{reflist}}

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• [http://www.nswrail.net/locations/show.php?name=NSW:Tarcutta&line=NSW:tumbarumba:0 Tarcutta Railway Station]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20041210233941/http://www.esf.org.au/tarcatta.html Tarcutta Hills Reserve]
• [http://www.tarcuttamemorial.com/ National Truck Drivers' Memorial]

{{Wagga Wagga City}}

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Category:Towns in New South Wales

Category:Hume Highway

Category:Mining towns in New South Wales