Hillston
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Hillston New South Wales |
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High Street, the main street of Hillston
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 Hillston
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| Coordinates | 33°29′07″S 145°31′58″E / 33.48528°S 145.53278°ECoordinates: 33°29′07″S 145°31′58″E / 33.48528°S 145.53278°E | ||||||||
| Population | 1,430 (2011 census) | ||||||||
| Established | 1863 | ||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 2675 | ||||||||
| Elevation | 122.0 m (400 ft) | ||||||||
| Location | |||||||||
| LGA(s) | Carrathool Shire | ||||||||
| County | Nicholson | ||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Murray | ||||||||
| Federal Division(s) | Riverina | ||||||||
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Hillston is a township in western New South Wales, Australia, in Carrathool Shire, on the banks of the Lachlan River. It was founded in 1863 and at the 2011 census had a population of 1,430.
John Oxley and his exploration party were the first European visitors to the Hillston district, in 1817. Oxley wrote in his journal: "country uninhabitable and useless for all purposes of civilised man".
In 1839 William Hovell followed the Lachlan River to near the site of present-day Hillston and took up a pastoral holding called "Bellingerambil" (later named "Cowl Cowl").
The locality of present-day Hillston was a crossing-place for stock on the Lachlan River. The earliest European name for the place was 'Daisy Plains' or ‘Daisy Hill’. Later it became known as "Redbank" (following the Wiradjuri name 'Melnunni', meaning "red soil"). In 1863 a stockman named William Ward Hill from nearby "Roto" station established an inn – the Redbank Hotel – at the location. William Hill died on 10 July 1867 of "exhaustion from intemperance" and his widow, Elizabeth, took over the licence of the Redbank Hotel (which she held until about 1871). In 1869, when the first post office was opened, the township was renamed Hillston, after its founding publican.
The site of Hillston was originally on land owned by John McGee, who obtained a sub-division and sold lots by public auction, "the lots realising high prices". The Government also surveyed a township just north of McGee’s land. Sixty-four lots at Hillston North were also auctioned, bringing "up to £100 per acre". Thus two townships developed side-by-side.
Hillston developed as a service centre to the surrounding pastoral holdings, so the pace of development of the township was closely linked to prevailing conditions as they affected the district pastoral enterprises. Due in large measure to drought conditions in the district there was little or no progress of the township during the mid-1860s. However more favourable seasons by the end of the decade, with the return of more reliable rainfall, led to a revitalization of Hillston’s prospects.
Hillston developed as a service centre to the surrounding pastoral holdings. The Moss brothers, who were successful store-owners at Hay, established a store at Hillston by 1869. Hillston Post Office opened on 1 February 1869. In mid-1871 the partnership between the brothers was dissolved and Louis Moss ran the Hillston store on his own account.
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