Ourimbah, New South Wales
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Ourimbah Central Coast, New South Wales |
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Shops along the Pacific Highway at Ourimbah.
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| Coordinates | 33°21′54″S 151°22′05″E / 33.365°S 151.368°ECoordinates: 33°21′54″S 151°22′05″E / 33.365°S 151.368°E |
| Population | 4,162 (2011 census) |
| Postcode(s) | 2258 |
| Location | |
| LGA(s) | Central Coast Council |
| Parish | Ourimbah |
| State electorate(s) | |
| Federal Division(s) | Dobell |
Ourimbah is a small township and a suburb of the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, located about 78 kilometres (48 mi) north of the Sydney CBD. The township today consists of small scattered local shops and businesses along the Pacific Highway, as well as the Central Coast campus of the University of Newcastle. Ourimbah had a population of 4,162 at the 2011 census.
The Aboriginal word "Oorin" meaning "Belt of manhood" in which a stone axe was carried on hunting expeditions, and "Oorinbah" which is the bora ring or ceremonial ground in which the initiation ceremony of conferring the "belt of manhood" was carried out is where the name for Ourimbah originates from. Ourimbah was also known as ‘Blue Gum Flats’ which is what the school was called. The name of Ourimbah was universally adopted for the School, Post Office, Railway and Township in the late 1800s.
There are many sites around Ourimbah which provide evidence of Aboriginal occupation. These include axe grinding grooves, archaeological deposits of campfires and food scraps, cave art, as well as many stone implements which have been purloined by museums and privateers.
Blue Gum Flat Public School (Ourimbah Public School) was built in 1863 on the site of the present railway station. In 1886 the school was moved to the opposite side of the road and a wooden building constructed. The Ourimbah railway station was built in the same year and opened on 15 August 1887 and was the only station other than Narara between Gosford and Wyong at this time.
The relocation of the school and construction of the railway provided the opportunity for the subdivision of land into "town-size" allotments and the creation at Ourimbah of a townscape at first dubbed "Beckford". An area had previously been earmarked for a township to the north of this planned subdivision.
The town of Ourimbah, with its blue gums, blackbutts, round leaved gum, spotted gum and white mahogany trees, was an ideal place for the milling of timber to support a Sydney building boom between 1840 and 1870. The 1840s saw a major growth of population in the Ourimbah area. Attracted by the availability of work cutting timber, a great number of young couples moved all through the Central Coast, gradually forming settlements at which many began to put down roots.
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Wikipedia