Baradine New South Wales |
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The former Embassy Theatre, now home to a coffee shop
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Coordinates | 30°57′0″S 149°04′0″E / 30.95000°S 149.06667°ECoordinates: 30°57′0″S 149°04′0″E / 30.95000°S 149.06667°E | ||||||
Population | 593 (2006 census) | ||||||
Postcode(s) | 2396 | ||||||
Elevation | 300 m (984 ft) | ||||||
Location |
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LGA(s) | Warrumbungle Shire | ||||||
State electorate(s) | Barwon | ||||||
Federal Division(s) | Parkes | ||||||
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Baradine is a small town in north western New South Wales, Australia. At the 2006 census, Baradine had a population of 593.
Baradine is located on the Coonabarabran-Pilliga road, about midway between Coonabarabran and Pilliga. It is adjacent to Baradine Creek which flows intermittently northwards from the Warrumbungles.
The area was originally inhabited by Aborigines, and first settled by Europeans in the late 1830s and was proclaimed a village in 1865. Baradine's name appears to have been derived from an Aboriginal word for "red wallaby". Baradine Post Office opened on 1 January 1867.
Baradine is located on the Gwabegar railway line, which was closed north of Binnaway, New South Wales in 2005. The railway reached Baradine in 1923 and the station was closed in 1985. By rail, Baradine is 563 kilometres from Sydney. Baradine is directly linked by road to Coonabarabran, Walgett, and Coonamble which is 68 km to the west from Baradine.
Baradine is the administrative centre of the Pilliga Scrub, whose history is documented in A Million Wild Acres by local farmer Eric Rolls in the 1970s.
The State forests and National Park reserves of the Pilliga are part of a vast and unusual woodland, famous for its cypress pine, its broom plains, its vivid spring wildflowers, its koalas and a rich supply of honey-bearing flora. In a state where eucalypt forests dominate the landscape, the Pilliga offers scenery that is distinctly different.
The State forests and National Park reserves of the Pilliga stretch across the flat, sandy plains between the Warrumbungle Mountains near Coonabarabran in the south and the Namoi River near Narrabri in the north, the single largest area of continuous forest west of the Great Dividing Range. The forests have a long history of harvesting for termite-resistant white cypress pine and durable ironbark.