Tumut () is a town 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 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 ...

, situated on the banks of the Tumut River. Tumut sits on the north-west foothills of the

Snowy Mountains The Snowy Mountains, known informally as "The Snowies", is an IBRA subregion in southern New South Wales, Australia, and is the tallest mountain range in mainland Australia, being part of the continent's Great Dividing Range, a cordillera syste ...

and is located on the traditional lands of the

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 ...

, Wolgalu and

Ngunnawal The Ngunnawal people, also spelt Ngunawal, are an Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal people of southern New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory in Australia. Language Ngunnawal–Gundungurra language, Ngunnawal and Gundungurr ...

Aboriginal peoples. Tumut is often referred to as the 'gateway to the snowy'

Snowy Mountains Scheme The Snowy Mountains Scheme, also known as the Snowy Hydro or the Snowy scheme, is a hydroelectricity and irrigation in Australia, irrigation complex in south-east Australia. Near the border of New South Wales and Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...

. The former Tumut Shire was administered from offices located in the town. Tumut is approximately south-west of

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 north-east of

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 ...

. Tumut is home to a number of historic buildings, including an Anglican church designed by

Edmund Blacket Edmund Thomas Blacket (25 August 1817 – 9 February 1883) was an Australian architect, best known for his designs for the University of Sydney, St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney and Goulburn Cathedral (St. Saviour), St. Saviour's Cathedral, Goulbu ...

and a Courthouse designed by James Barnet. Many of the pubs in the town have been in use from the mid to late 1800s. Early settlers established many European deciduous trees throughout the area. The stand of Poplars,

Elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus ''Ulmus'' in the family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical- montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ...

and

Willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...

, amongst others, create a well renowned display of colour over autumn. Tumut celebrates this with the yearly Festival of the Falling Leaf.

Etymology

The word ''Tumut'' is derived from a possibly

indigenous word for the area, possibly ''doo-maaht'' or ''doormat'', meaning "a quiet resting place by the river".

History

The area's rivers may have been the boundaries or connection-points of the three

traditional owners Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...

linked to this 'country'. During summertime, the high country was a meeting place for tribes, with

Bogong moth The bogong moth (''Agrotis infusa'') is a temperate species of Nocturnal, night-flying moth, notable for its biannual long-distance seasonal Lepidoptera migration, migrations towards and from the Australian Alps, similar to the diurnal monarch ...

s being an abundant food source in the warmer months. British pastoralists began acquiring land in the area during the 1830s. In 1845, a Court of Petty Sessions was established at Tumut with Frederick Walker appointed as the inaugural magistrate. Walker later became famous as the first commandant of the

Native Police Australian native police were specialised mounted military units consisting of detachments of Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal troopers under the command of European officers appointed by British colonial governments. The units existed in va ...

force based mostly in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. Tumut Post Office opened 1 January 1849. A public hospital opened in the town in 1900. After many years of lobbying by the local community, construction of the railway line from Gundagai began in 1901, reaching Tumut by 1903 with the first train arriving on 2 December that year. A further extension was built to Batlow and Kunama from a junction at Gilmore, a few kilometres southwest of Tumut. Train services were progressively reduced in the early 1980s before the final trains to

Cootamundra Cootamundra, nicknamed Coota, is a town in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia and within the Riverina. It is within the Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council. At the 2016 Census, Cootamundra had a population of 6,782. I ...

ran in January 1984 before being suspended when flood damage to the line was deemed not economical to repair. Tumut was one of the ten areas short-listed in 1908 as a site for the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

. Other locations that were short-listed include

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 ...

Armidale Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 23,967 as of the 2021 census. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands reg ...

Bombala Bombala is a town in the Monaro, New South Wales, Monaro region of far southern New South Wales, Australia, in Snowy Monaro Regional Council. It is approximately south-southwest of the state capital, Sydney, and south of the town of Cooma, Ne ...

, Dalgety, Lake George, Lyndhurst, Orange, Tooma and Yass-Canberra. The site of the new capital city would not have been the existing town of Tumut. It seems two sites near Tumut for a new city were proposed; one to the east of Tumut, at a site in the valley of Goobarragandra River, which is now part of the localities of Little River and Lacmalac, and another site between Tumut and Adelong, near Gadara, under which Tumut itself would have become a part of the new Federal Territory. Planning work occurred for both sites. An earlier vote following inspections of potential sites in 1902 saw the new Federal

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

vote in favour of Tumut as the location for the capital, however the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

favoured Bombala so no consensus was reached. When federal parliamentarians put the final decision to a series of nine elimination ballots, in October 1908, Tumut was eliminated in the fifth ballot. The town's

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 competed in the Riverina Maher Cup competition, beginning as a fixture between teams from Gundagai and Tumut under

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

rules in 1920, before switching to league rules in 1921.

Climate

Tumut is considerably wetter than other low-lying towns on the

South West Slopes The South Western Slopes, also known as the South West Slopes, is a region predominantly in New South Wales, Australia. It covers the lower inland slopes of the Great Dividing Range, extending from north of Dunedoo through central NSW and into ...

, owing to its location at the immediate foot of the

Brindabella Range The Brindabella Range, commonly called The Brindabellas or The Brindies, is a mountain range located in Australia, on a state and territory border of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The range rises to the west of C ...

. Warm to hot, dry summers (though with chilly nights) and cool, wet winters characterise its climate. Occasionally, snow can occur during the winter months, with the most recent significant snowfall having occurred in August 2019, where snow covered the ground across the township. Cold rain below occurs with some regularity in the winter months. Under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

scheme, the town is located in transitional areas between the

humid subtropical A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between la ...

(''Cfa'') and

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

s (''Cfb''). The town is rather sunny, featuring 113.2 clear days annually, though winters are often cloudy. Rainfall records began in 1883 at Adelong (Tumut St), but temperature records not until 1907, and temperature extremes not until 1965. Temperature records ceased in 1994, but those of rainfall continued to 2020 before ceasing.

Heritage listings

Tumut has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Adelong Falls Gold Workings * Cootamundra–Tumut railway: Tumut railway station * 46 Russell Street: Montreal Community Theatre * Tumut Plains Road: Junction Bridge, Tumut * 82–84 Wynyard Street: Tumut Post Office

Economy

Tumut is the centre of a softwood industry based on plantation ''

Pinus radiata ''Pinus radiata'' ( syn. ''Pinus insignis''), the Monterey pine, insignis pine or radiata pine, is a species of pine native to the Central Coast of California and Mexico (on Guadalupe Island and Cedros island). It is an evergreen conifer in t ...

''. CarterHoltHarvey Woodproducts (Central and Northern Regions) Pty Ltd operate a major sawmill on Adelong Road (the Snowy Mountains Highway) and a chipboard panel factory next door. 8 km further west on the Snowy Mountains Highway at Gilmore the company also operates a sawlog processing plant. The Visy pulp and paper mill is located north of the Snowy Mountains Highway at Gadara (between Tumut and Adelong). The Visy mill is the only paper mill owned by Visy that makes paper from wood (their other mills all use recycled paper as the raw material), and is one of the biggest wood mills in Australia.

Transport

Tumut is situated on the Snowy Mountains Highway, but is connected by secondary roads to Gundagai as well as alternative routes to

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

across the

via Brindabella Road and Wee Jasper Road. Despite being more direct, the terrain and road conditions limit traffic via these routes. This has led to calls by the

council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

and local businesses for funding to upgrade the Brindabella Road, as the increased traffic would provide the town greater economic opportunities. The town was served by a railway branch line and

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

from

, which operated from 1903 until 1984, when services were suspended due to flooding. Although the line is not formally closed, it is unlikely to see service again with sections of track lifted during upgrades to the

Hume Highway The Hume Highway, including the sections now known as the Hume Freeway and the Hume Motorway, is one of Australia's major inter-city national highways, running for between Melbourne in the southwest and Sydney in the northeast. Upgrading of t ...

near Gundagai.

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 ...

coach services operate three times each week to Tumbarumba in the south, connecting with rail services to Melbourne and Sydney at Cootamundra three times each week. Tumut Shire operates Tumut Airport, a small facility located a few kilometres out of town catering to

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

. Currently there are no scheduled services to the airport.

Sport

The Tumut Blues compete in the

Group 9 Rugby League Group 9 is a rugby league competition based in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia, and surrounding areas. The competition is played in six grades, with these being Under 16s, Under 18s, Women's Tackle, Women's League tag, League-Tag, Reser ...

competition, winning premierships in 1949, 1973, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2019.

Notable people

* Ray Beavanrugby league player * Allan Butlerparalympian *

Kim Carr Kim John Carr (born 2 July 1955) is an Australian former politician who served as a Senator for Victoria between 1993 and 2022. Representing the Labor Party, he was a minister in the Rudd and Gillard governments. Carr is a graduate of the ...

(born 1955)is an Australian politician, a Senator for Victoria and former Minister of several departments Second Rudd Ministry * Reg Downing Attorney General of New South Wales (1956–65) * Cate Fowler AMtheatre producer, dramaturg * David Johnsonformer CEO of

Campbell Soup Company The Campbell's Company (doing business as Campbell's and formerly known as the Campbell Soup Company) is an American company, most closely associated with its flagship canned soup products. The classic red-and-white can design used by many Campbe ...

* Tom Kirkrugby league player * Tony McRaeMember and Minister in Western Australian Parliament (2001–08) * Tony Quirkrugby league player * John Ryan

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

recipient * Sally Shipardformer international soccer player * Rosie Waterlandauthor

References

External links

Tumut Shire Council
{{authority control Towns in New South Wales Snowy Mountains Highway Snowy Valleys Council Proposed sites for national capital of Australia