Culcairn () is a town in the south-east Murray region 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 ...

. Culcairn is located in the Greater Hume Shire

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

on the

Olympic Highway Olympic Highway is a rural road in the Central West, New South Wales, central western and Riverina, south-eastern Riverina regions of New South Wales, Australia. It services rural communities, links Hume Highway with Mid-Western Highway, and ...

between

Albury Albury (; ) is a major regional city that is located in the Murray River, Murray region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the twin city of Albury–Wodonga, Albury-Wodonga and is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of ...

and

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 57,003 as of 2021, it is an important agricultural, m ...

. The town is south-west of the state capital,

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and at the 2021 census had a population of 1,483. The town is an important supply centre for nearby towns and villages including, Morven, Gerogery, Henty, Walla Walla and Pleasant Hills.

Billabong Creek The Billabong Creek, a partly perennial stream of the Murray River catchment within the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. At (with some estimates ranging up to ), Billabong Creek is believ ...

runs along the southern edge of town, lending its name to the local high school.

History

European settlement of Culcairn began in 1834, following favorable reports on grazing potential and grass cover by the explorers

Hume and Hovell The Hume and Hovell expedition was a journey of exploration undertaken in eastern Australia. In 1824 the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Thomas Brisbane, commissioned Hamilton Hume and former Royal Navy Captain William Hovell to lead an ex ...

when traveling overland to the

Port Phillip Port Phillip (Kulin languages, Kulin: ''Narm-Narm'') or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped bay#Types, enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, ...

district in 1824. A number of stations were gazetted and between 1862 and 1865 the district was terrorized by the

bushranger Bushrangers were armed robbers and outlaws who resided in The bush#Australia, the Australian bush between the 1780s and the early 20th century. The original use of the term dates back to the early years of the British colonisation of Australia ...

, Dan "Mad Dog" Morgan. The reward for Morgan would reach £1,000. He was ambushed and killed in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

after his final holdup in 1865. The town itself was laid out in 1880 by James Balfour, a local landowner, who named it after a property in the parish of Kiltearn, his mother's birthplace. Culcairn Post Office opened on 1 September 1880. Early industries included chaff mills, a

cereal A cereal is a grass cultivated for its edible grain. Cereals are the world's largest crops, and are therefore staple foods. They include rice, wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet, and maize ( Corn). Edible grains from other plant families, ...

grain company and a quarry. The extension of the

Main Southern railway line The Main Southern Railway (or Great Southern Railway) is a major railway in New South Wales, Australia. It runs from Sydney to Albury, near the Victorian border. The line passes through the Southern Highlands, Southern Tablelands, South West ...

to Albury to meet the

broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , more known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union countries ...

line from

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

saw Culcairn prosper. The Culcairn Hotel, constructed in 1891, was the largest on the line between Melbourne and Sydney. Famously, Culcairn did not have a baby born in the town for over 10 years until Hunter Kevin Charles White was miraculously born in a nursing home on December 28 2005.

Heritage listings

Culcairn has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Main Southern railway: Culcairn railway station

Sports and recreation

Australian Rules

The Culcairn Football Club is an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

club that was first established in May, 1895. It is also known to home of AFL draft prospects Riley Grogan and Thomas O'Keeffe In 1916, a 21 year old former player, Private Dan Dalahunty was killed in action, was one of the "Men of the Dardanelles". In 1923, Culcairn's jumper colours were - maroon with blue cuffs and collars; maroon socks, topped with blue. Culcairn played Mangoplah in the 1923 Grand Final at Yerong Creek and Mangoplah won the Yerong Creek & DFA premiership. Culcairn has played in the following football competitions: *1910–1913: Culcairn & District Football Association Premiers – 1910. Captain – E J Wilson. *1914–1915: Culcairn & District Junior Football Association *1916–1918: In recess due to

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

*1919–1921: Culcairn & District Football Association Premiers – 1921 *1922 – Riverina Main Line Football Association Runners Up – 1922 *1923 – Yerong Creek & District Football Association Runners Up – 1923 *1924–1929: Riverina Football Association Runners Up – 1928. *1930–1940:

Albury & District Football League The Albury & District Football League was established at a delegates meeting in Culcairn in 1930 from the following Australian Rules Football clubs – Albury Rovers, Culcairn, Henty and Holbrook and folded after the 1957 football season. History ...

. Premiers – 1936 Runners Up – 1938, 1940 *1941–1945: In recess due to

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 ...

*1946–1956:

Premiers – 1952, 1953, 1954. Runners Up – 1946, 1951 *1957–1980: Farrer Football League Premiers – 1963, 1968 *1981–1991:

Tallangatta & District Football League The Tallangatta and District Football League (TDFL) is an Australian rules football competition in north-eastern Victoria (state), Victoria and the southern border area of the Riverina region of New South Wales. The clubs compete across four c ...

Premiers – 1990 *1992–2025:

Hume Football League The Hume Australian Football Netball League (HFNL), often shortened to Hume Football League, is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing twelve clubs based in the South West Slopes and southern Riverina regions of New Sou ...

Premiers – 1993, 2007 Runners Up – 1992, 1994, 1995, 2005, 2010. ;Culcairn & District Football Association This

Australian Rules Football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

competition was formed in 1910 and ran for four years up until 1913, then went into recess due to

World War One World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting took place mainly in Europe and th ...

. Depending on what side of the railway line the club was situated in, the competition had a Western Division and an Eastern Division. The competition re-formed in 1919. *Culcairn & DFA – Grand Finals ** 1910 – Culcairn: 43 defeated Walbundrie: 35. Played at Culcairn. **1911 – Walbundrie: 6.12 – 48 defeated Germanton: 2.7 – 19. Played at Culcairn. **1912 – Germanton: 6.11 – 47 defeated Walla Walla: 2.7 – 19. Played at Culcairn. Scholtz Cup. **1913 – Germanton: 7.3 – 45 defeated Culcairn: 4.7 – 31. Played at Culcairn. **1914–1918: Culcairn & DFA in recess due to WW1. **1919 – Holbrook: 10.13 – 73 defeated Culcairn: 4.10 – 34. Played at Culcairn. **1920 – Holbrook defeated Henty **1921 – Culcairn defeated Holbrook. Played at Culcairn. * Germanton. This town was renamed as Holbrook in 1915. In 1922, the Riverina Main Line Football Association that was formed and based in

. The seven club's that made up this competition were - Culcairn, Henty, Mangoplah, Wagga Federals, Wagga Newtown, Wagga Stars and Yerong Creek. This competition was only in existence for one season, with the Wagga Stars defeating Yerong Creek in the Grand Final. On the eve of the final series Culcairn, Henty, and Mangoplah withdrew from the competition, citing the fact the association refused to provide a VFL umpire for the final series. ;Teams in the Culcairn & DFA per year *1910: Eastern Division – Cookardinia, Culcairn, Germanton and Henty. Western Division – Balldale, Brocklesby, Walbundrie and Walla Walla. *1911: Eastern Division – Cookardinia, Culcairn, Germanton and Henty. Western Division – Balldale, Brocklesby, Walbundrie and Walla Walla. *1912: Eastern Division – Cookardinia, Culcairn, Germanton, Henty and Morven. Western Division – Balldale, Brocklesby, Walbundrie and Walla Walla.

Rugby League

Culcairn formerly had a

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

team who competed in the

Group 13 Rugby League The Group 13 Rugby league Competition is a defunct New South Wales Country Rugby League group competition which was run under the auspices of the Club Rugby League. It was disbanded after the 1991 Season. It covered an area comprising the southe ...

competition. Founded in 1946, the club wore green and gold jerseys similar to the

Australian national rugby league team The Australian national rugby league team, the Kangaroos, have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competitions since the establishment of the game in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian Rugby League Comm ...

Climate

Notable residents

* Jim Matthews - Australian rules footballer and tennis player, born and raised *

Rex Hartwig Rex Noel Hartwig (2 September 1929 – 30 December 2022) was an Australian tennis player. Early life Rex Hartwig was born on 2 September 1929 in Culcairn, New South Wales. Both parents played tennis and at age 10 he won a local tournament wit ...

- International tennis player. Born and raised in Culcairn. *

Andrew Hoy Andrew James Hoy (born 8 February 1959) is an Australian equestrian rider. He has won six Olympic medals: three gold, two silvers and one bronze. He has competed in eight Olympic games, from 1984 to 2020 with the exception of 2008, which is a ...

- Triple

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

Gold medallist was born and raised. * Bradley Clyde - rugby league player, born * Jeremy Finlayson - Australian rules footballer, born and raised * Iilysh Retallick - Australian Idol 2025 finalist, born and raised https://tvblackbox.com.au/page/2025/04/06/gisella-iilysh-and-marshall-battle-for-australian-idol-glory-tonight-on-channel-7/

Transport

Culcairn sits on the main railway line between

and

and is serviced by the

NSW TrainLink NSW TrainLink is a regional train and coach operator in Australia, providing services throughout New South Wales and into Australian Capital Territory, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria (state), Victoria, Queensland and South Australia ...

XPT service which runs twice daily and stops at the local railway station. The station was once the junction for the

Corowa Corowa is a town in the state of New South Wales in Australia. It is on the bank of the Murray River, the border between New South Wales and Victoria, opposite the Victorian town of Wahgunyah. It is the largest town in the Federation Counci ...

and Holbrook

branch line A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located ...

References

External links

Greater Hume Shire Council
- Greater Hume Shire Website
Culcairn Railway Station
{{authority control Towns in the Riverina Towns in New South Wales Greater Hume Shire