Wagga wagga. In Fitzmaurice Street. The former Commercial Bank of Sydney built in 1882 in high Victorian classical style with arcaded veranda.
Captain Charles Sturt came down the Murrumbidgee River at the site of Wagga in 1830 and the first pastoral property was established here in 1832 by Robert Best who called his property Wagga Wagga after the local Aboriginal word for crows. The Aboriginal inhabitants of this area called the river Murrumbidgee meaning “big water”. In 1847 a police station and small court was established at this river crossing at Wagga and the town was formally gazetted in 1849. But it grew slowly with the first store not opening until 1851. By 1858 river boats had reached Wagga Wagga from the river ports of South Australia. The town expanded in the 1860s and 1870s and the railway reached Wagga North in 1878. It took over a year to extend it into Wagga as this required a 2,500 metre wooden rail bridge across the Murrumbidgee River. The Wagga Wagga railway station was built and opened in 1881 thus opening up this area of the Riverina to more wheat farming. Wagga Wagga soon had rail links to both Sydney and Melbourne and other Riverina towns. Today Wagga Wagga is the largest inland city in New South Wales with 52,000 inhabitants.
Wagga wagga. In Fitzmaurice Street. The former Commercial Bank of Sydney built in 1882 in high Victorian classical style with arcaded veranda.
Captain Charles Sturt came down the Murrumbidgee River at the site of Wagga in 1830 and the first pastoral property was established here in 1832 by Robert Best who called his property Wagga Wagga after the local Aboriginal word for crows. The Aboriginal inhabitants of this area called the river Murrumbidgee meaning “big water”. In 1847 a police station and small court was established at this river crossing at Wagga and the town was formally gazetted in 1849. But it grew slowly with the first store not opening until 1851. By 1858 river boats had reached Wagga Wagga from the river ports of South Australia. The town expanded in the 1860s and 1870s and the railway reached Wagga North in 1878. It took over a year to extend it into Wagga as this required a 2,500 metre wooden rail bridge across the Murrumbidgee River. The Wagga Wagga railway station was built and opened in 1881 thus opening up this area of the Riverina to more wheat farming. Wagga Wagga soon had rail links to both Sydney and Melbourne and other Riverina towns. Today Wagga Wagga is the largest inland city in New South Wales with 52,000 inhabitants.