Yerrinbool, New South Wales

Infobox Australian Place | type = village
name = Yerrinbool
region = Southern Highlands
state = New South Wales
lga = Wingecarribee Shire
postcode = 2575
est = 1919
pop = 1033 (2006)
stategov = Goulburn
fedgov = Hume
near-n = Yanderra
near-e = Upper Nepean Catchment Area
near-s = Alpine
near-w = Hill Top
dist1 = 117
dir1 = South-West
location1= Sydney CBD
propval = $290,000 [http://www.domain.com.au/public/SuburbProfile.aspx?mode=buy&searchterm=yerrinbool] (2008)

Yerrinbool is a Northern Village of the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in the Wingecarribee Shire. It has a population of 1033 [http://censusdata.abs.gov.au| Australian Bureau of Statistics] and is accessible from the Hume Highway (via Bargo or Alpine) and is about 15km drive from nearby Mittagong. It is 6-8 km by foot to Hill Top via a rough trail. It was previously officially known as "Town of Yerrinbool". It is located on the historic Old Hume Highway.

Facilities

Yerrinbool has the Yerrinbool Railway Station which is part of the Southern Highlands CityRail railway services.

Directly opposite the station is the Yerrinbool General Store. Community facilities include a community hall, fire station, an Anzac memorial, sporting field and skate park.

Yerrinbool's sporting field is home-ground for the joint Yerrinbool-Bargo soccer team; the Yerrinbool-Bargo Bushrangers [http://www.ybsc.com.au/ Yerrinbool-Bargo Soccer Club] . The Bushrangers are part of the Highlands Soccer Association [http://www.hsa.org.au/ Highlands Soccer Association Inc] and a team in the Highlands Competition.

It contains a Bahá'í School which is a retreat for practitioners of the Bahá'í religion. It is known as the "Yerrinbool Baha'i Centre of Learning." [http://www.ybcl.org/moodle/index.php Yerrinbool Baha'i Centre of Learning] See Bahá'í Faith in Australia.

Attractions

Yerrinbool is distinguished on the Hume Highway as the town which has the "Welcome to the Southern Highlands" sign as it is the first town of the Southern Highlands on the Hume Highway coming from Sydney.

Yerrinbool can also be distinguished by the Tennessee Orchard Sign which has a large round red apple on it. The bright sign can be seen when travelling past the village on the Hume Highway.

History

The name "Yerrinbool" is an Aboriginal word for the Wood Duck [ [http://www.nswrail.net/library/station_names.php www.nswrail.net] ] — a species which is quite common around the ponds in Yerrinbool.

On the 13th of July 1919, Yerrinbool Station along with now closed Alymerton Station was officially open for use on the Main South Line [ [http://www.nswrail.net/locations/show.php?name=NSW:Yerrinbool&line=NSW:main_south:0 NSWrail.net | Yerrinbool Station ] ] . It was built on the new train line that was built between between Mittagong and Picton to replace what is known today as the disused Picton Loop Railway Line. This line was built to ease steep grades as the original line left Picton Station train traffic "bottlenecked" [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picton-_Mittagong_loop_railway_line] .

The Yerrinbool General Store was built and opened in 1921 along with a saw-mill which has now been demolished. On the 20th of August 1922, a school was opened with 30 students enrolled. However, the school now doesn't exist. Also, the community hall was built in March 1938 by local voluntary labour.

The Yerrinbool Baha'i School was first opened in May 1937 as a Baha'i Summer School [http://www.ybcl.org/college/campus.htm Yerrinbool Baha'i School History] .

According to census in 1954, Yerrinbool had 50 dwellings with a population of 150.

Geography

References

* [http://www.thesouthernhighlands.com.au/towns/history| History of the Northern Towns; Yerrinbool]