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Places

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  • Tuncurry Reafforestation Prison Camp
    In November 1913, twenty prisoners were sent to the Tuncurry Reafforestation Prison Camp in an experiment which was the first of its kind in NSW. The prison camp was not so much a gaol as the prisoners were serving out the last months of their sentence. Their job was to plant out acres of pine trees for which the area was once famed. Each prisoner had their own little hut with a bunk and sleeping net...
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  • 2 Commerce Street, Taree
    Between 1903 and 1906, William Wrigley bought 5 lots of land on the corner of River and Commerce Streets, Taree. William was a builder and carpenter and after completing his apprenticeship in Sydney he went to South Africa where the building trade was flourishing. He returned to Australia in 1898 and spent the next 44 years…
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  • Those rascally rabbits: Broughton Island rabbit experiment
    Audiences tend to love fictional rabbits such as Thumper or Bugs Bunny, but in Australia rabbits have caused widespread environmental and economic devastation since their introduction in the 1850s. Governments have spent millions of dollars fighting these pests. In 1906, Broughton Island became the scene of one such attempt. Microbiologist Dr Danysz from the…
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  • Market Square, Cundletown
    In November 1854 an advertisement was placed in the Sydney newspaper Empire seeking the services of “a competent surveyor to lay out for sale the township of Cundle on the Manning River” The set out, and probably also the design, of this private township was subsequently awarded to Walter Clayton. Walter came from Sussex, England…
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  • Black Head Surf Club or is it River Club?
    Calls for a lifesaving club at Black Head started as early as 1915 after the near drowning of four people. Ten years later in 1925, the surf club officially opened. While rescues have been a part of regular duty, a special rescue happened in Taree in 1929. Black Head and Taree-Old Bar Surf Clubs have…
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  • Manning Miniature Golf
    171 Victoria Street, Taree – the heart of the CBD – not the most obvious place for a golf course, albeit a miniature course. But, for a short time, one did exist there...
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  • The first Pilot of Cape Hawke Pilot Station
    On Pilot (Flagstaff) Hill overlooking Forster Harbour are the remains of a Pilot Station established in 1883. The first pilot, Captain Amor Hicks Kendall, took up residence at the new station where he remained until his retirement in 1908...
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  • The Harrington Maritime Pilot Station
    The Manning River is the only double delta river in the southern hemisphere with one entrance at Harrington and the other at Old Bar. Harrington has long been the river’s gateway, but its treacherous bar has been the ruin of many ships. From as early as 1824 vessels have come to complete ruin at Harrington.…
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  • The Old AACo Road
    From 1826 to 1831 an area of salt marsh to the east of Karuah, known as No. 1 Farm, was the scene of intense activity as over one hundred convicts employed by the Australian Agricultural Company (AACo) strove to turn it into viable farming land...
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  • Secret under the Taree Railway
    Just a railway station? Or a Lodge Motel? You would never believe what actually lies beneath!
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  • Martin Bridge
    Have you ever seen the big wheels on the river foreshore near Martin Bridge at Taree? Have you ever wondered what they were used for? If you read on, you will learn about the history of Martin Bridge...
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  • Wingham Brush
    Imagine this…it is 1920 and you are travelling along Isabella Street, Wingham. You see an enormous fig tree on one side and foliage on the other. At the end of the street is the Wingham Wharf leading onto the Manning River. What is this place?
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  • Old Taree Showgrounds
    Did you know that the Taree Showgrounds near Muldoon Street were not always there? We have discovered that they were much closer to the centre of Taree. Read on to learn more...
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  • Taree War Memorial Clock
    The Taree War Memorial Clock stands in Fotheringham Park, but did you know that it wasn’t always there? Do you know why it was built? And did you know about the secret capsule hidden inside?
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  • My Backyard in Tea Gardens
    My backyard in Witt Street, Tea Gardens is a place I remember well back in the 40s...
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  • A new road for Strathcedar and Mooral Creek
    During the late 1800s, access to Strathcedar and Mooral Creek was along a road carved out by early Mooral Creek settlers, the Fords…
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  • Harry Bennett Park, Taree
    Harry Bennett Park is located off River Street, Taree on the Manning riverfront, visible to all who cross the Martin Bridge…
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  • Chinese Market Garden of Wingham
    Just north of the Cedar Party Bridge at Wingham is the site of an old Chinese market garden that was originally worked by Ben Lee (Yee Sow) in the early 1900s...
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  • Camphor Laurel Trees, Albert Street, Taree
    In the early twentieth century, the planting of street trees for town beautification was strongly advocated...
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  • Wingham Wharf
    The remnants of the Wingham Wharf have witnessed nearly 190 years of activity. Apart from stories of the timber and shipping industries, there are tales of celebration, sadness and madness. Read on…
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  • Failford - a name on a map
    Failford is a locality set amidst pleasant countryside, but dominated today (2019) by large lot residential subdivisions. Perhaps not historically interesting? But, then again...
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  • Mill Creek – Taree’s hidden waterway
    The very first entry in the 1885 Taree Municipal Council Rate Book shows a Mr Avery as the owner of a mill and dwelling…
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  • Tales from the Bulliac Railway Tunnel
    The Bulliac Railway Tunnel, situated 20kms north of Gloucester, opened 4 February 1913 as part of the North Coast Line, the major trunk line between NSW and Brisbane...
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  • Simsville - a Settlement in Purgatory
    Located in the Purgatory Scrub east of Stroud, Simsville, also known as The Jarrah, was the site of a timber getting and sawmilling operation spanning the years 1911 to 1947…
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  • Apparitions at Limeburners Creek
    For many years there stood near the junction of the Karuah River, a large house surrounded by flowers and fruit trees. It was built by the late Captain Griffin, who reared a large family therein…
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  • Christmas Bells at Crowdy Head
    Between Crowdy Head and Diamond Head is a great plain that has long been home to Australian wildflowers, particularly Christmas bells, Christmas bush and flannel flowers…
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  • Santa Claus at Tahlee House
    Two days before Christmas 1927, an article appeared in NSW newspapers entitled ‘Santa Claus at Tahlee House’. It was a story set on Christmas Eve 1832 during the time when…
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  • Our Manning River: Transformation of Brown's Creek (Crooked Creek), Taree
    It’s heartening to see that waterways once used as dumping-grounds are now valued by the community and restored to places of beauty and ecological health...
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  • Our Manning River: Industrial Heritage of Brown's Creek (Crooked Creek), Taree
    The creek has a long industrial history with ties to quarrying, railways and shipbuilding to name a few...
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  • Kerewong Estate
    In 1906 the NSW Government passed legislation to enable the construction of a railway connection from Maitland to South Grafton. Many owners of large land holdings along the route saw this as an incentive to subdivide their property...
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  • The establishment of Purfleet Mission
    By 1900 the NSW Aborigines Protection Board had decided that it was better for Aboriginal people to live separately from Europeans. It was to ‘protect them from the worst excesses and corrupting influences of European society’...
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  • 101 Bungay Road, Wingham
    In the back shed of 101 Bungay Road Wingham is a child’s handprint pressed into the concrete slab with the date 17-7-54. After watching episodes of Restoration Home during Covid19 social distancing measures, the hunt was on to work out whose print…
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  • Whitbread's Corner
    The corner of Victoria and Manning Streets, Taree where the Exchange Hotel now stands (2020) was once known as ‘Whitbread’s Corner’. Samuel and Mary Whitbread arrived from England as assisted immigrants on the ship ‘Equestrian’ in 1848…
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  • How did Spence Street, Taree get its name?
    Samuel Spence was born in Bradford, England in 1857. He joined the army as a young man but became interested in travel so joined the sea service where he gained navigational and marine engineer qualifications…
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  • Old Bar Airstrip
    Nancy-Bird Walton, Jean Batten, Captain Charles Ulm, Captain Les Holden - the list of pilots who used the Old Bar Airstrip is a who’s who of aviation pioneers...
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  • Tales from Old Bar Airstrip “Mystery Island”
    In September 1936, Australian film star Brian Abbott, leading lady Jean Laidley and a crew of 30 set off for Lord Howe Island on the SS Morinda to film the movie ‘Mystery Island’…
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  • Old Bar Recreation Reserve and Pavilion
    The first pavilion on Old Bar Recreation Reserve was built in 1887 to provide refreshments and shelter to beachgoers…
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  • “Uncle Lou” Waterman
    Louis Augustus Waterman was born in Balmain in 1877. He came to the Manning with his brother Harry where they became farmers at Tinonee...
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  • Forster Ocean Baths and Casino
    The Forster Ocean Baths opened on 20 December 1935 with an official ceremony conducted on 18 January 1936. The baths and buildings were designed by…
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  • Early Tourism in Forster Tuncurry
    During the early years of tourism young people in station wagons loaded with surf boards arrived in Forster. They slept in their cars or on the beaches…
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  • Robert Croker and the Nabiac War Memorial
    Robert Croker was awarded the contract to build the memorial and hired other war veterans to help him. The dedication service was on ANZAC Day 1932 and some 60 returned soldiers marched to the new memorial...
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  • Early settlement at Bulahdelah
    On 29 September 1856 land throughout NSW was offered for sale by public auction at upset prices, including country lots at “Bullah Delah” for £1 per acre…
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  • Granny Rennie
    In 1852 on the ship “Argyle”, Mary Keleher aged 19 left her native County Clare, Ireland to become one of the first assisted immigrants to arrive directly into Moreton Bay (Brisbane), Qld...
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  • Nurse Jane Mayers
    At the age of 16 Jane De Lore married Joseph Mayers of Mayer’s Flat, Bungwahl, riding 30 miles on horseback to Maitland to be married…
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  • North Arm Cove – the city that never was
    Most Australians would be familiar with the name of Walter Burley Griffin as the architect of the nation’s capital, Canberra. Lesser known is another scheme designed by him…
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  • Pipers Bay, Forster
    William Brisbane Piper born in 1844 at Brisbane Waters trained as a shipwright with his father. The last ship constructed by William’s father called ‘Jonathan’…
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  • Forster’s first police constable: Edward William Mitchell
    Early policing in NSW began in 1789 when civilians called the “Night Watch” were tasked to guard Sydney Town. On 1 March 1862 the NSW Police Force was established…
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  • Mary Ann Gogerly
    In 1938, Mary Ann Gogerly passed away at the age of 90. Her life had been one of adventure, sadness and resilience…
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  • The Dun family of Hillside Dairy, Cape Hawke
    In 1925 Thomas bought a dairy farm situated on Minor Road which is now called Cape Hawke Road, Forster...
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  • Girambit
    Girambit ‘Saltwater’ with its natural beauty and waterways has always been a sacred and spiritual place. It is the home of the Birrbay ‘Biripi’ people and it is a place of healing...
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  • John Guilding's Bitter-Sweet Dream
    Through the abhorrent use of an enslaved workforce, plantation owners in the West Indies had made huge fortunes from the cultivation of that most sought-after commodity – sugar...
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Recent Posts
  • Mildred Muscio: Women’s Rights Activist
  • John Guilding’s Bitter-Sweet Dream
  • Then and Now: Manning River
  • A very old and very good ginger beer recipe
  • Stephen Hopkins: Ex A.I.F.

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We acknowledge the traditional owners, the Biripi and Worimi people, on whose lands these stories are told. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised this website contains images and voices of deceased people. The stories of the MidCoast could not be told without recognising their stories. Do you wish to proceed?