Coolah Area, NSW
Welcome to Coolah Shire Council – Home of the Black Stump – Gateway to the Outback.
We extend a hearty welcome to the Coolah Shire. Come and share our country experience and make new friends.
Our Shire covers an area of 4,832 square kilometres including the Coolah, Dunedoo, Mendooran, Merrygoen and Weetaliba districts. From the upper reaches of our crystal clear waterways in the mountainous Coolah Tops area, to the more gentle hills in the west, the majority of the soils are fertile and highly productive.
Mixed farming is predominate, covering all winter cereal crops and any suitable for summer growth, due to a varied average rainfall of 450 to 650mm.
Prime cattle, fat lambs and fine wool production, second to none in NSW, are grown in the district.
Our timbered areas yield Cypress Pine, Stringybark and Ironbark, keenly sought for building construction and railway sleepers.
A warm welcome is extended to visitors at our sporting clubs and accommodation houses. Why not sample our hospitality and country living? Several wayside inns existed in the Coolah Shire in the early days of the Colony. These inns were certainly needed for those travelling long distances between towns. The most well known was the Black Stump Wine Saloon situated on the Gunnedah Road, about 10kms north of Coolah. It was the staging post for north western NSW, important in its position at the junction of the coach roads Gunnedah – Coolah, Coolah – Coonabarabran and all points west.
The position of the inn is clearly marked on old NSW Lands Department maps. Like many a pub before and since, it became the hub from which men dated their journeys and gauged their distances.
The saloon was named after the nearby Black Stump run and Black Stump Creek. It was from these names that the saying ‘Beyond the Black Stump’ was derived. Thus our ‘Gateway to the Outback’ opened.
About Coolah Area
- State: New South Wales