Wagga Wagga Favorites

Favorite thing: The Wagga community had several run-ins with bushrangers in the 1860s and 1870s. No less than Wagga police magistrate Henry Baylis was held up by Mad Dan Morgan in 1863 and was shot and wounded when he and some policemen tracked Morgan to his camp. Morgan showed his contempt for the Wagga police when, wanted dead or alive, he managed to attend the Wagga Christmas races in 1864, walking freely among the police, attending the race meeting luncheon and sitting near to the police magistrate without detection.
The notorious 'Blue Cap' was sentenced to 10 years hard labour at Wagga court in 1868 but was released in a general amnesty in 1874 and strangely never heard from again. James Kelly, younger brother of the famous Ned Kelly, was also sentenced to ten years gaol at Wagga courthouse in 1877 after being convicted of stealing two horses from two Wagga hoteliers. He had just completed four years for cattle theft, a sentence he began serving at the age of 15. When released he then led a respectable life and lived until 1946

Fondest memory: The railway arrived in North Wagga in 1878 with a 2500-m trestle built across the Murrumbidgee in 1879 to allow the line to continue to South Wagga. The longest railway trestle in NSW, it was extended in 1879 and renewed with steel in 1910.
The railway station, a picture of which I've misplaced, is arguably the finest building in Wagga and still serves the town today though in a lesser capacity to its heydays.
The years from 1880-1920 were a period of modest growth after the boom of the 1870s. Large pastoral holdings around the town were broken up for closer settlement. Fruit-growing plus dairying were added to the local economy. The first cinema arrived in 1897 and electricity in 1922. With continuing expansion Wagga was declared a city in 1946.

Favorite thing: The site was an important river crossing, situated as it was at the intersection of the north-south track between NSW and Victoria and the east-west track along the Murrumbidgee. Crop farming occurred in 1846. The police building and court premises were established in 1847 and Wagga was achieved town status in 1849. A punt service opened the following year followed in 1851 by the first store opening. Floods slowed development in 1852-53 but, being on the main thoroughfare to the goldfields, Wagga ultimately benefited from the through-traffic becoming an important stock sales centre in the late 1850s.
The paddle steamers of the inland river system began operations in the 1850s and the first one arrived at Wagga in 1858 but the importance of the road links always made the steamer trade not as competitive and the last steamer came to visit Wagga arrived in 1905.
The first Anglican church was built in 1860, a school opened in 1861 and a gaol replaced the old lock-up in 1862; prisoners previously being chained to a log while awaiting their hearing.

Fondest memory: A toll bridge across the river, opened in 1862, was replaced in 1895 by the Hampden Bridge, which is still standing. This helped Wagga to compete with Gundagai and Albury which had prospered as river crossings due to their bridges.

Favorite thing: 'Wagga,' as it is known, is a fully fledged town of fine buildings, tree-lined streets, parks and gardens. The surrounding area consists of properties dedicated to wheat-growing, dairying, mixed farming and fat lambs. It has one of the largest stockyards in Australia, in addition to the Livestock Marketing Centre, which processes around 1.5 million sheep and 130 000 cattle annually.
The city also boasts the Charles Sturt University and the Riverina Institute of TAFE which adds to its importance as an important regional education centre and, with the Kapooka Army Recruit Training Base and a Royal Australian Air Force base at Forest Hill where I spent a year, it is also regarded as one of the country's major defence force establishments.

Fondest memory: There was some early pastoral settlement in the 1820s but it was the 1829 exploration of the river system by Charles Sturt and party which opened the area up to settlers, mostly from the more northern Gundagai area. Runs were established on the south and north banks of the Murrumbidgee in 1832 by Robert Best (who owned the Wagga Wagga station and built a homestead there in 1832), and Charles Tompson.

Favorite thing: In December 1829, the early colonists first sighted the land on which the flourishing City of Wagga Wagga now stands. The persons thus privileged consisted of Captain Charles Sturt, 39th Regiment, stationed in Sydney, Mr George Macleay and six others. This party passed over the site of future Wagga Wagga on its expedition of discovery down the Murrumbidgee and Murray Rivers. Settlement swiftly followed.
Wagga Wagga was proclaimed a town in 1849 and in the same year surveyor Thomas Townshend marked out the town. In the 1860s the population totaled approximately 700, but by 1881 it had increased to 3,975. In 1879 the railway line was extended south of the river.

Fondest memory: The name of the City is derived from the language of the Wiradjuri tribe, which was the biggest aboriginal tribe in New South Wales, embracing the Riverina area.
"Wagga", "Wahga" or Wahgam" in aboriginal dialect means "crow". The repetition of a word was the method of expressing the plural or emphasis, thus Wagga Wagga means "crows" or "the place where crows assemble in large numbers".
Many are the jokes about Wagga and crows "Where the crows fly backwards" and "Around and around until they fly up their own posterior" are just two I've heard.
The Murrumbidgee River which runs through the City also derived its name from the aboriginal language and means "plenty water" or "big water".

Favorite thing: When I was walking around Wagga Wagga, I came across the police station situated in a historical and interesting building as shown in this photograph. Being a laid-back and peaceful city, I think the jobs of the policemen in Wagga Wagga are probably not so tough :)

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Favorite thing: There are a significant number of historical buildings in Wagga Wagga e.g. Court Office, Court House, former CBC Bank. These historical buildings are very well preserved, and most of them are located along the main Baylis Street and surrounding streets, so it is very easy to walk around, admire them and take some photographs.

Favorite thing: When I was at Wagga Wagga, I noticed that this town has several impressive churches in terms of architecture. These churches are located near to the Beach Caravan Park along the Murrumbidgee River. More photographs of these churches are at the travelogue section of this VT page.

Favorite thing: This is Baylis Street...the main street of Wagga where you will find most of the shops. Baylis Street mostly has retail shops, cafes, department stores, restaurants etc.

Baylis Street turns into Fitzmaurice Street at the northern end but that end of town is not as busy as Baylis Street...except maybe after dark when the pubs come alive... Fitzmaurice Street is home to mostly businesses like accountants, computer stores, pubs, farm supplies, service stations, produce, furniture etc.