The name probably comes from Wiradhurimurrimboola, which can reasonably be translated to "two waterholes".[2]
History
Before European settlement the Harden area was inhabited by the Wiradjuri people. Hume and Hovell passed nearby in 1824. In the late 1820s, the 'Murrumburra' was established. Its superintendent, James Kennedy, established an inn on the townsite in the late 1840s. Gold was found in the area in the 1850s.[3] In 1858, it was gazetted as the name Murrimboola, which was a Wiradjuri word meaning two water holes. In mid-1872, a traveller made the following comments about Murrumburrah, "a small township on the road to Lambing Flat":
Murrumburrah has two churches, a school, three hotels, the same number of stores, and a good steam flour mill. The Roman Catholic Church is a fine stone building on a hill above the town, and looks very picturesque; the Wesleyan Chapel is a small wooden building. The principal hotels are Mr. Murphy’s and Mr. Dillon’s. The former owns the flour mill, a good brick building, three stories high. It may be mentioned that a good deal of wheat is grown in the district.[4]
A railway station was opened one km east of Murrumburrah on the Main Southern line in 1877 as Murrumburrah station, but changed its name to Harden station, the year after the opening of a new station in Murrumburrah in 1879.[5] Harden has remained as the main station and, as a result, became the main town.
A feature of the town is a memorial to the Australian Light Horse regiment, which had its origin in Harden-Murrumburrah by the establishment on 28 August 1897 of the 1st Australian (Volunteer) Horse by 34 men from the district. The two large bronze statues depicting Trooper Bradford, one of the original volunteers, and J. A. Kenneth Mackay, prominent in the development of the 1st Australian Horse, were the work of Carl Valerius.[a]
Gallery
Murrumburrah Institute & Hall
Anglican Church
Catholic Church
Uniting Church
Court House
Shire Offices
Council Chambers
Exchange Hotel
Commercial Hotel
Post Office
CBC Bank
Bill the Bastard
Kenneth Mackay
Trooper Bradford
Notes and references
^Valerius, who has a studio in the town, was responsible for the bronze of Don Bradman in action, located in a park at Cootamundra and a dozen of the busts on the Cricket Captains' Walk. His best-known creation may be the large bronze depicting "Bill the Bastard".