Bogan Gate () is a small village in

Parkes Shire Parkes Shire is a local government area in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire is located adjacent to the Broken Hill railway line and the Newell Highway. The area under administration includes the town of Parkes ...

of the Central West of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. At the , Bogan Gate and the surrounding area had a population of 307. Bogan Gate is derived from the local Aboriginal word meaning "the birthplace of a notable headman of the local tribe". The village lies in wheat and sheep growing country and is on the Sydney - Broken Hill rail line, and it is the junction for the Bogan Gate–Tottenham Branch line. Attractions include the annual Bogan Gate Arts Festival and golf tournaments at the local nine-hole Bogan Gate Golf Club.

History

19th century

Explorer

John Oxley John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley (1784 – 25 May 1828) was an English List of explorers, explorer and surveyor of Australia in the early period of British colonisation. He served as Surveyor General of New South Wales and is perhaps bes ...

passed through the area in 1817. An early reference to the name Bogan Gate is in the ''New South Wales Government Gazette'' for 19 May 1876. Tenders were called for the conveyance of mail to Bogan Gate in May 1877. Bogan Gate Post Office opened on 15 December 1896. The arrival of the railway line late in the 19th century transformed Bogan Gate and agriculture in the region. The western line from Sydney reached

Parkes Parkes may refer to: * Sir Henry Parkes (1815–1896), Australian politician, one of the earliest and most prominent advocates for Australian federation Named for Henry Parkes * Parkes, New South Wales, a regional town * Parkes Observatory, a radi ...

and

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in 1893. When it reached the Bogan Gate area in 1896, the settlement moved south to relocate near the railway station. Land for the township was surveyed in 1897 and a public school was built the following year. The railway station was at the heart of the community and busiest during the

shearing Sheep shearing is the process by which the woollen fleece of a sheep is cut off. The person who removes the sheep's wool is called a '' shearer''. Typically each adult sheep is shorn once each year (depending upon dialect, a sheep may be sai ...

and harvest times. The railway made it possible to grow commercial wheat crops in the area. Previously the high cost of transport had made the crop uneconomic in western New South Wales. Also significant in expansion of wheat growing in the region was the practice of share farming, introduced into New South Wales from the United States in 1893.

20th century

The town had a spurt of growth in the years immediately after the railway station opened. By 1903, Bogan Gate had a public school with 67 students, a police station, post office, sawmill, general store, butcher, baker, blacksmith and two hotels; the Bogan Gate Hotel (built 1899), which had 17 rooms, and the Railway Hotel. Bogan Gate had a population of 300 when the Shire of Goobang came into existence in 1906. By the 1920s, there was a general store employing 11 people,

stock and station agencies Stocks (also capital stock, or sometimes interchangeably, shares) consist of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided. A single share of the stock means fractional ownership of the corporation in proportion t ...

, a bank, a doctor's surgery and another hotel. The

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

forced many residents to move in search of work to larger towns and cities. An explosives testing ground was established near Bogan Gate during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The site was used by the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

and

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

to store munitions for decades. As of 2014, the former Defence site was leased to several companies.

21st century

Modern Bogan Gate has a public hall, school, Post Office & hotel/motel. Recreational facilities include Burrawang Park, & a nine-hole golf course and night-lit tennis courts. A festival, that included a competition to find “Australia’s Biggest

Bogan Bogan ( ) is Australian and New Zealand slang to describe a person whose speech, clothing, behaviour, or attitudes are considered unrefined or unsophisticated. Depending on the context, the term can be used pejoratively or in a humorous, self- ...

,” was held in the town in July 2019.''Forbes Champion-Post'', 18 July 2019
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Notable residents

* William Keast (1872−1938), politician * Lu Rees (1901−1983), bookseller and book collector * Jim Taylor (1920−2005), politician * Ian Walsh (1933−2013), rugby league player

References

External links

Parkes Shire's entry on Bogan GateThe Bogan Gate "Gate"A bogan gate, a type of gate roughly made from droppers and fencing wire

Gallery

File:BoganGatePostOffice.JPG, Bogan Gate Post office File:BoganGateCWARooms.JPG, Bogan gate CWA Rooms File:Bogan Gate Police Station.JPG, Bogan gate Police Station File:Bogan Gate Rural Fire Service Shed.JPG, Bogan gate Rural Fire Service File:Bogan Gate CWA RSL & Red Cross Building 002.JPG, Bogan Gate RSL CWA and Red Cross rooms File:Bogan Gate General Store.JPG, General Store at Bogan gate File:Bogan Gate Park 001.JPG, Bogan gate park File:Bogan Gate Anglican Church 001.JPG, Anglican Church File:BoganGateRomanCatholicChurch.JPG, Roman Catholic Church File:Bogan Gate Pioneer Monument 001.JPG, Bogan Gate Pioneer Monument File:Bogan Gate War Memorial 005.JPG, Bogan Gate War Memorial File:Bogan Gate Public Hall 001.JPG, Bogan Gate Public Hall File:Bogan Gate Public School 001.JPG, Bogan Gate Public School File:Bogan Gate Uniting Church 001.JPG, Bogan Gate Uniting Church {{authority control Towns in New South Wales Towns in the Central West (New South Wales) Parkes Shire