Morangarell is a locality in

Bland Shire Bland Shire is a Local government areas of New South Wales, local government area in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. it covers an area of . As at the the population was 5,995. It is a member of the League of Extraordinary Comm ...

in the

Riverina The Riverina () is an agricultural list of regions in Australia, region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, a climate with significant seaso ...

region of New South Wales, Australia. There was once a village of the same name, now a ghost town. Morangarell lies between Temora and Grenfell, and

Barmedman Barmedman is a rural village in the Bland Shire Council, Bland Shire in the New South Wales state of Australia, located approximately half-way between West Wyalong and Temora, New South Wales, Temora. Barmedman began as a service centre for gold- ...

and

Young Young may refer to: * Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents * Youth, the time of life when one's age is low, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood Music * The Young, an America ...

. The locality is bisected by Bland Creek, a tributary of

Lachlan River The Lachlan River (Wiradjuri: ''Kalari'', ''Galiyarr'') is an intermittent river that is part of the Murrumbidgee catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, located in the Southern Tablelands, Central West, and Riverina regions of New Sou ...

. The locality is rural, with the main economic activities being raising crops and grazing. The area now known as Morangarell lies on the traditional lands of

Wiradjuri The Wiradjuri people (; ) are a group of Aboriginal Australian people from central New South Wales, united by common descent through kinship and shared traditions. They survived as skilled hunter-fisher-gatherers, in family groups or clans, a ...

people. The name Morangarell is said to mean “water fowl’s nest”. The village, officially a town, was located within the modern-day locality, near the junction of modern-day Mary Gilmore Way—it bisects the old town site—and what is still known as McGregor Street. Morangarell serviced the needs of the surrounding agricultural properties, 'Moonbucca', 'Morangarell', 'Curraburrama' and 'The Retreat'. The heyday of the village was from the 1870s to around 1918. It was only in November 1884, that the site of the Town of Morangarell was officially declared. In 1899, its plan was altered by closing streets and lanes and cancelling some land. A new street, East Street, was opened. There has been a post office in the area since 1858. A church building, used by multiple denominations, opened in 1860. The first hotel dated from 1864; it later burned down but was rebuilt. It had a police court, by 1873. Morangarell was also at the convergence of roads leading to

, Temora, Stockinbingal,

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

, and Grenfell. The southern section of the Stockinbingal–Parkes railway line, between

and Stockinbingal, authorised in 1911, was completed in 1918. The

Lake Cargelligo railway line The Lake Cargelligo railway line is a railway line in Central Western New South Wales, Australia. The first sod was turned commencing construction on 8 June 1913 with the line opening on 13 November 1917. The line branches from the Main Souther ...

opened in 1917. The new lines did not pass through Morangarell; consequently, economic activity and services migrated to newly-established villages that lay on a railway, such as

Bribbaree Bribbaree is a small village in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia spanning the boundary of Weddin Shire and Hilltops Council. The name is also applied to the surrounding area, for postal and statistical purposes. The pop ...

and

Quandialla Quandialla is a village in the Central West (New South Wales), Central West region of New South Wales Australia. The town is west of Sydney. It is situated on the plains at the western edge of the Weddin Shire. The town of Grenfell, New South ...

. There was a school there from October 1913 to June 1920. The police station closed in March 1929, and the police presence relocated to Bribbaree. The Morangarell Hotel closed in late 1936, and had been demolished by mid 1937. The post office, which was staffed by the same postmistress for over forty years up to 1930, seems to have been closed by around the end of 1937. In 1972, reservations of land for the village's recreation area, public buildings, and public hall were revoked. In October 1974, the Town of Morangarell officially ceased to exist, and was redesignated as a locality. The village's cemetery survives.

References

External links

{{commons, position=left Localities in New South Wales Ghost towns in New South Wales