Dorrigo, New South Wales
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Dorrigo New South Wales |
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Dorrigo Main Square
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 Dorrigo
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| Coordinates | 30°20′S 152°43′E / 30.333°S 152.717°ECoordinates: 30°20′S 152°43′E / 30.333°S 152.717°E | ||||||
| Population | 1,072 (2011 census) | ||||||
| Postcode(s) | 2453 | ||||||
| Elevation | 731 m (2,398 ft) | ||||||
| Location | 580 km (360 mi) N of Sydney | ||||||
| LGA(s) | Bellingen Shire | ||||||
| State electorate(s) | Oxley | ||||||
| Federal Division(s) | Cowper | ||||||
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Dorrigo, a small town on the Waterfall Way, is located on the Northern Tablelands, in northern New South Wales, Australia. The town is part of Bellingen local government area.
It is approximately 580 kilometres (360 mi) north of the state capital, Sydney via the Pacific Highway, and 60 kilometres (37 mi) west from the coastal city of Coffs Harbour. The town is situated on the Dorrigo Plateau near the New England Escarpment, which is part of the Great Dividing Range. Dorrigo is 731 metres (2,398 ft) above sea level. At the 2011 Census, Dorrigo had a population of 1,072 people.
The traditional custodians of the land that is now known as Dorrigo are the Aboriginal people of the Gumbaynggirr nation.
European settlement of the area followed on from the early timber cutters in the 1860s. The first official European in the district was Land Commissioner Oakes who sighted the mouth of the Bellinger River.
Dorrigo is derived from the Aboriginal word, dondorrigo, meaning "stringy-bark". For many decades it was believed that explorer and settler Major Edward Parke named the region after a Spanish General named Don Dorrigo with whom Peake fought in the Peninsula War.
By 1841, timber cutters had entered the Bellinger River searching for red cedar (Toona australis). They set up camps and moved from one stand of trees to the next.
Richard Craig, an escaped convict from the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement, was the first European to discover the Dorrigo Plateau, following the traditional indigenous route to Armidale from the Grafton area. Using his skills as a horseman, Craig travelled along the western side of the Nymboida River. Craig's track became a road, now roughly following the same path as the present Grafton to Armidale Road and travelling through the present day villages of Nymboida, Billy's Creek, Dundurrabin, Tyringham and Ebor. Timbergetters followed Craig through the sub tropical rainforest and many sawmills grew due to demand for timber, initially the highly prized Australian Red Cedar (Toona australis).
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