Bredbo, New South Wales
Bredbo is a village on the Monaro plains of New South Wales, Australia. The village is on the Monaro Highway 34 kilometres (21 mi) north of Cooma. The village is in the Snowy Monaro Regional Council and had a population of 169 in 2006.
Located at the junction of the Bredbo and Murrumbidgee rivers, the Bredbo area was historically prone to flooding. As a way-point on the road from Sydney to the Snowy Mountains, travellers were frequently stranded by rising water. By 1839 the Bredbo Inn had been established to accommodate travellers. The Inn was a Cobb and Co stagecoach post, with stables located behind the Inn which are still standing today.
The surrounding settlement was developed to support squatters' runs established in the district between 1848 and 1850. Bredbo was officially proclaimed a village in 1888.
Gold was discovered in the area by the Reverend William Branwhite Clarke, who also discovered gold at Kiandra. [1] A field was proclaimed along the Bredbo River, which was worked until 1921. In the 1930s a geological survey was undertaken and a mine opened and operated until 1942. The field at Cowra Creek were worked from 1888 and are still popular for fossicking.
Bredbo sits on the Bombala railway line which reached the town in 1889 at which time there were eight houses. The railway closed in 1989 however one final "Farewell to Bredbo" special train was run from Canberra on 3 March 1990.
In the early 20th century, the Australian poet Banjo Paterson stayed at the Bredbo Inn. It is here that Paterson may have encountered the notable stockman Charlie McKeahnie, a likely source of inspiration for Paterson's epic poem The Man From Snowy River. McKeahnie was renowned for his risky riding, and was eventually killed in a horse race over the Bredbo bridge. Following the accident the fatally wounded McKeahnie was carried to the Inn, where he died of his injuries.
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