Condobolin, NSW

Condobolin is a town in the west of the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia, on the Lachlan River. At the 2006 census, Condobolin had a population of 2,847.

History

Prior to European settlement, the area was inhabited by the Wiradjuri people.

The name Condobolin is suggested by some to have evolved from the Aboriginal word Cundabullen — shallow crossing. The crossing was located a short distance below the junction of the Lachlan River and the Goobang Creek. Others suggest that the town's name from the Wiradjuri word for 'hop bush', or 'hop brush'.

The area was explored by John Oxley in 1817 and Thomas Mitchell in 1836. The 'Condoublin' run was established by 1844. There had been squatters in the district since Mitchell's 1836 exploration. Closer settlement of the area began in 1880 when the large runs were broken up into smaller holdings.

The town of Condobolin was proclaimed in 1859. The railway arrived in 1898, and the town's population boomed, assisted by finds in 1885 of copper north of the town and in 1896 of gold in the district, north-west of the town. A major copper and gold mine was in operation at Condobolin from 1898 until around 1910. Agriculture is still a major influence on the town, production having expanded with the damming of the Lachlan River in 1935 by the Wyangala Dam. Wheat, barley, canola, wool, sheep and cattle are produced in the district. In more recent years irrigation has brought horticulture and cotton to the Lachlan River area.