Coolah is a town in the central western part 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 ...

Warrumbungle Shire The Warrumbungle Shire is a local government area in the central western region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire is traversed by the Newell Highway. The Warrumbungle mountain range and Warrumbungles National Park are major tourist at ...

. At the 2016 census, Coolah had a population of 1,290. Material was copied from this source, which is available under
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
. The name Coolah is derived from the

Port Jackson Pidgin English Port Jackson Pidgin English or New South Wales Pidgin English was an English-based pidgin that originated in the region of Sydney and Newcastle in New South Wales in the early days of colonisation. Stockmen carried it west and north as they expa ...

word meaning "angry".

Geography

On the northeastern side of the area is the

Liverpool Range The Liverpool Range is a mountain range and a lava-field province in New South Wales, Australia. The eastern peaks of the range were the traditional territory of the Wonnarua people. Geography The Liverpool Range starts from the volcanic plat ...

with the

Coolah Tops National Park Coolah Tops is a national park located in New South Wales, Australia, northwest of Sydney, established on 5 July 1996. It is managed by the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service. Its World Conservation Union category is II. It ...

. Most of the region is agricultural with sheep and cattle raising and crops grown along the

Talbragar River Talbragar River, a perennial stream that is part of the Macquarie catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the Orana district of New South Wales, Australia. The river rises on the western side of the Liverpool Range on the so ...

and Coolaburragundy River valleys.

History

Coolah was initially the lands of the Wiradjuri and Kamilaroi People. It is said the valley was often used as a meeting ground between peoples of the two nations. The area was also the home to King Togee a legendary leader of his people. His gravesite is on the Neilrex Road to the west of Coolah. The Coolah area was first colonised by British pastoralists in the late 1830s. A

Border Police A border guard of a country is a national security agency that ensures border security. Some of the national border guard agencies also perform coast guard (as in Federal Police (Germany), Germany, Guardia di Finanza, Italy or State Border Guar ...

barracks was established at Coolah around 1840 under Graham Douglas Hunter who was the Commissioner for Crown Lands for the Bligh District. Coolah Post Office opened on 1 January 1849. The town was served by the Coolah railway line from March 1920 until May 1975.

Cadbury Schweppes Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational corporation, multinational confectionery company owned by Mondelez International (spun off from Kraft Foods, Inc., Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second-largest c ...

introduced a citrus-flavoured energy drink in the US in 2006 named Coolah Energy. The text on the packaging for this product refers to the Australian Cadbury Schweppes product

Solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''Star Wars Legends'' continuity * Kylo Ren (Ben Solo), a ''Star Wars'' character * Napoleon Solo, fr ...

as its inspiration, along with the lifestyle of the inhabitants of the town of Coolah. Coolah is the location of the first Australian memorial commemorating The

Battle of Long Tan A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

. A total of 18 trees were planted along Coolah's Vietnam Memorial Avenue, one for each Australian soldier killed during the battle.

Heritage listings

Coolah has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * 74 Binnia Street: Old Police Station and Courthouse

Population

In the 2016 Census, there were 1,290 people in Coolah. 83.0% of people were born in Australia and 87.7% of people spoke only English at home. The most common responses for religion were Anglican 39.6%, Catholic 20.1% and No Religion 17.4%.

Sport

The Coolah Kangaroos formerly competed in the

Castlereagh Cup The Castlereagh League (also known as the Castlereagh Cup and Group 14) is a rugby league competition in western New South Wales, Australia, run under the auspices of the New South Wales Country Rugby League, Country Rugby League. For all intent ...

until the 2000s. Prior to this they also played in the

Mid West Cup The Mid West Community Cup is a rugby league competition in the Central West area of New South Wales. The premiers are awarded the Blayney Citizens' Cup, the oldest continuously awarded trophy in Country Rugby League, with Neville the first rec ...

. The club still fields junior teams in the

Group 14 Rugby League The Castlereagh League (also known as the Castlereagh Cup and Group 14) is a rugby league competition in western New South Wales, Australia, run under the auspices of the New South Wales Country Rugby League, Country Rugby League. For all intent ...

competition, alongside netball teams.

People

* Richard Butler (born 1942), public servant * Lisa Messenger, entrepreneur and author * Gary Scully, journalist and foreign correspondent *

Monty Porter Montague "Monty" Porter Public Service Medal (Australia), PSM (1934–2011) was an Australian premiership winning and New South Wales rugby league team, state representative rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a R ...

, rugby league player

References

{{authority control Towns in New South Wales Warrumbungle Shire