View source for Tarcutta

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Use Australian English|date=April 2013}}
{{Infobox Australian place
| type                     = town
| name                     = Tarcutta
| state                    = nsw
| image                    = Tarcutta truckie memorial.jpg
| caption                  = National Truck Driver Memorial at Tarcutta
| image_alt                = 
| relief                   = 
| coordinates              = {{Coord|-35.277056|147.736832|display=inline,title|format=dms}}
| pushpin_label_position   = 
| map_alt                  = 
| pop                      = 446
| pop_year                 = {{CensusAU|2016}}
| pop_footnotes            = <ref name="ABS"/>
| poprank                  = 
| density                  = 
| density_footnotes        = 
| established              = 
| established_footnotes    = 
| abolished                = 
| gazetted                 = 
| postcode                 = 2652
| elevation                = 233
| elevation_footnotes      = 
| area                     = 
| area_footnotes           = 
| timezone                 = 
| utc                      = +10
| timezone-dst             = [[Australian Eastern Daylight Time|AEDT]]
| utc-dst                  = +11
| dist1                    = 438 | dir1 = SW | location1 = Sydney
| dist2                    = 456 | dir2 = NE | location2 = Melbourne
| dist3                    =  45 | dir3 =  E | location3 = Wagga Wagga
| dist4                    =  49 | dir4 = SW | location4 = Gundagai
| dist5                    = 132 | dir5 = NE | location5 = Albury
| lga                      = City of Wagga Wagga
| region                   = 
| county                   = [[Wynyard County, New South Wales|Wynyard]]
| stategov                 = [[Electoral district of Wagga Wagga|Wagga Wagga]]
| fedgov                   = [[Division of Riverina|Riverina]]
| url                      = 
| maxtemp                  = 
| maxtemp_footnotes        = 
| mintemp                  = 
| mintemp_footnotes        = 
| rainfall                 = 663.9
| rainfall_footnotes       = 
| local_map                = yes
| near-nw                  = {{NSWcity|Ladysmith}}
| near-n                   = {{NSWcity|Mundarlo}}
| near-ne                  = {{NSWcity|Tumblong}}
| near-w                   = 
| near-e                   = {{NSWcity|Adelong}}
| near-sw                  = {{NSWcity|Kyeamba}}
| near-s                   = 
| near-se                  = 
| near                     = 
| footnotes                = 
}}
'''Tarcutta''' is a town in south-western [[New South Wales]], [[Australia]]. The town is {{convert|438|km|mi}} south-west of [[Sydney]], {{convert|3|km|mi|0}} east of the [[Hume Highway]], It was proclaimed as a village on 28 October 1890. As of 2016, the town had a population of 446.<ref name="ABS">{{Census 2016 AUS|id=SSC13763|name=Tarcutta (State Suburb)|accessdate=27 June 2017|quick=on}}</ref>

It serves a local farming community relying for its prosperity mainly on sheep and cattle, and the interstate [[truck driver|truckie]]s who use the town as a halfway change-over point in the trade between the state capital cities of [[Sydney]] and [[Melbourne]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://podcasts.apple.com/jp/podcast/6-halfway-and-home/id1141195475?i=1000376479253&l=en|title=The Real Thing: #6: Halfway and home|date=2016-10-11|website=Apple Podcasts|access-date=2020-03-18}}</ref>

==History==
The Tarcutta area was first visited by the European explorers [[Hume and Hovell expedition|Hume and Hovell]] as they passed through on their way from Sydney to Port Phillip in the Colony of Victoria. On 7 January 1825, near the present site of Tarcutta, they met a group of [[Wiradjuri]] aborigines.

A decade after this first European contact around 1835–37, "Hambledon", a U-shaped [[Slab Hut|slab house]] was built at Tarcutta. It was the first inn and post office to be built between Gundagai and Albury. Tarcutta Post Office opened on 1&nbsp;January 1849.<ref name = "PostOffice">{{Cite web   | last = Premier Postal History  | title = Post Office List | url = https://www.premierpostal.com/cgi-bin/wsProd.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=NSW&country= | access-date = 11 June 2009}}</ref>

Among the earliest settlers was Thomas Hodges Mate. Mate was Tarcutta's earliest innkeeper, as well as its first post-master.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Death of Mr Thomas Mate|work=Wagga Wagga Express |date=1894 |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article145209691}}</ref> Mate's daughter Annie claimed that 'tarcutta' was a [[Wiradjuri]] word meaning 'a food prepared by grinding grass seed'.<ref>{{Cite web|title=A Centenarian Looks Back|work=Border Morning Mail |date=2 March 1940 |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article255119405}}</ref>

Gold was mined in the area round Tarcutta, with limited success.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Gold from Neves Gold Mine, Tarcutta, Wynyard Co., New South Wales, Australia|url=https://www.mindat.org/locentry-422750.html|access-date=2020-09-19|website=mindat.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=ADELONG NEWS. – THE TARCUTTA GOLD-FIELD. – The Gundagai Times and Tumut, Adelong and Murrumbidgee District Advertiser (NSW : 1868 – 1931) – 10 Aug 1880|work=Gundagai Times and Tumut, Adelong and Murrumbidgee District Advertiser |date=1880 |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article127638590|access-date=2020-09-20|via=Trove|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1904-12-31|title=GOLD AT TARCUTTA.|pages=2|work=Wagga Wagga Express (NSW : 1879 – 1917)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article145185150|access-date=2020-09-20}}</ref>

By the 1880s Tarcutta locals were actively lobbying for a rail branch line from [[Wagga Wagga]] to Tumbarumba via Tarcutta, and in 1917 the [[Tumbarumba railway line|Tumbarumba branch line]] became a reality. A section of the line sustained major flood damage in 1974, and the remainder of the line was closed in 1987.

The Tarcutta bypass is west of the village, linking-up to the freeway {{convert|3|km|mi}} to the north of the village and {{convert|3|km|mi}} south of the village. It was opened to traffic on 15 November 2011.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-15/truck-stop-in-doubt-as-bypass-opens/3666718|title=Truck stop in doubt as bypass opens|date=15 November 2011|publisher=ABC News|location=Australia|access-date=15 November 2011}}</ref>

==Trucking industry==
Tarcutta is situated halfway between Sydney and Melbourne on the [[Hume Highway]], and has long been popular in the [[truck|trucking industry]] as a stopping and changeover point for drivers.

The local park houses the National Truck Drivers' Memorial to the [[truck]] drivers who have died on the infamous local stretch of the Hume Highway, as well as around the country.<ref name=":0" /> The country singer, [[Slim Dusty]], endorsed the memorial with a plaque. A commemorative event is held annually in October.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tarcuttamemorial.com/|title=Tarcutta Memorial|website=tarcuttamemorial.com|access-date=2020-03-18}}</ref>

The local café, which has sustained generations of truckies, has also been the source of inspiration for some of Australia's recent modern poets, [[Les Murray (poet)|Les Murray]] and [[Bruce Dawe]]. Murray wrote "The Burning Truck" while visiting the café in 1961 and Dawe immortalised the eatery in a couple of lines in his poem "Under Way". The poem reads in part: 'there would be days / banging open and shut like the wire door of the cafe in Tarcutta / where the flies sang at the windows'.

There had been extensive political arguing since 1999 between Federal and State Governments over funding and where to site a proposed Tarcutta truck changeover facility. It was finally decided to place it off the main street and the project which was completed early 2007 was jointly funded at a cost of $6.5m.<ref>{{cite web | title = Tarcutta Truck and Trailer Interchange Facility | work = Australian Government | publisher = Australian Government – DOTARS | date = 14 May 2007 | url = http://www.auslink.gov.au/projects/ProjectDetails.aspx?Project_id=NAN001 | access-date = 16 June 2007}}</ref> Truck drivers are required to stop for 30 minutes every five hours.

==Heritage listings==
Tarcutta has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
* Tarcutta Street: [[Hambledon Homestead]]<ref name=nswshr-351>{{cite NSW SHR|5045015|Hambledon Homestead|hr=00351|fn=S90/05528 & HC 32716|access-date=18 May 2018}}</ref>

==Other features==
Tarcutta is also the birthplace of former [[Grand Slam (tennis)|Grand Slam]] champion tennis player [[Tony Roche]]. A left-hander, Roche had a successful singles and double career and won 12 Grand Slam men's doubles tournaments.

Located nearby is the {{convert|432|ha|acre|adj=on}} [[Tarcutta Hills Reserve]], owned and managed by [[Bush Heritage Australia]].  This reserve provides an important remnant of white box woodland with a relatively untouched grassy understory: a last refuge for the [[squirrel glider]], endangered birds like the [[swift parrot]], and as many as 11 other threatened wildlife species.  The site is listed on the [[Register of the National Estate]].

In 1969, the Tarcutta Rugby League side became the [[Group 13 Rugby League]] premiers. Their superior season also saw them crowned as the [[Clayton Cup]] winners for 1969.

==Climate==
{{Weather box
|location = Tarcutta Post Office (1872–2020)
|metric first = yes
|single line = yes
|precipitation colour=green
|Jan precipitation mm = 47.8
|Feb precipitation mm = 40.7
|Mar precipitation mm = 47.6
|Apr precipitation mm = 48.4
|May precipitation mm = 57.1
|Jun precipitation mm = 68.2
|Jul precipitation mm = 64.2
|Aug precipitation mm = 65.8
|Sep precipitation mm = 56.0
|Oct precipitation mm = 66.0
|Nov precipitation mm = 53.9
|Dec precipitation mm = 47.1
|year precipitation mm = 663.9
|source 1 = <ref>{{cite web|title=Monthly rainfall|url=http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/cdio/weatherData/av?p_nccObsCode=139&p_display_type=dataFile&p_stn_num=072042|work=[[Bureau of Meteorology (Australia)|Bureau of Meteorology]]|access-date=5 January 2011}}</ref>
}}
[[File:Tarcutta original truckie memorial.JPG|thumb|right|Original truckie memorial at site of current memorial.]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline}}

{{wikivoyage-inline}}
*[http://www.nswrail.net/locations/show.php?name=NSW:Tarcutta&line=NSW:tumbarumba:0 Tarcutta Railway Station]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20041210233941/http://www.esf.org.au/tarcatta.html Tarcutta Hills Reserve]
*[http://www.tarcuttamemorial.com/ National Truck Drivers' Memorial]

{{Wagga Wagga City}}
{{Riverina}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Tarcutta| ]]
[[Category:Towns in New South Wales]]
[[Category:Hume Highway]]
[[Category:Mining towns in New South Wales]]