Small service town in the heart of the Riverina.
Urana is a small service centre in the Riverina between Lockhart and Jerilderie. While it appears to be a sleepy little settlement designed to meet the needs of the surrounding wool and wheat graziers it actually has some real treasures: a huge Soldiers Memorial Hall which is probably the largest in Australia; a fascinating Court House preserved from the late 19th century; and some decidedly eccentric vernacular sculptures.
Location
Urana is located 566 km south-west of Sydney via the Hume and Sturt Highways and Wagga Wagga. It is 379 km north of Melbourne via Wangaratta.
^ TOPOrigin of Name
It is likely that Urana comes from a Wiradjuri word "airana" used to describe a temporary shelter made from bushes, branches and grasses.
^ TOPThings to See and Do
Urana Court House Museum
Located at 13 William Street, the museum is open by appointment. It is open on Mondays and Tuesdays with hours varying. Tel: (02) 6930 9100 for opening details. The museum still contains the court's original furnishings and Coat of Arms which dates from the 1880s. There is also displays of local memorabilia. The current Court House in Urana, an impressive brick building with Roman-arched windows, was designed by James Barnet, the Colonial Architect and completed in 1880 at a cost £1,867/17/-. It has separate rooms for the judge and the jury and was described as being fit for a city. Today's Court House is not the same as the court presided over by Henry Baylis. However Baylis continued as a Police Magistrate in the district until 1896 so he did preside over cases in the current Court House. The building is currently on the Register of the National Trust. Most of the court furniture remains, including lovely cedar tables, cupboards and public benches. There is also a charge book from the 1860s where Henry Baylis' signature appears regularly.
The Big Spider
If you are an arachnaphobe you probably won't make the journey to the local water tower where, Andrew Whitehead, a council worker and budding artist, has fashioned a huge black spider out of bits of old piping and tubing. It does not carry the suggestion that the town is full of spiders. Rather it acknowledges the local Urana football team which, until the 1980s, were known as The Spiders. Reported in the Border Mail the establishment of the sculpture involved: "Mr Whitehead, who is afraid of heights, installed the artwork himself, climbing a 16m ladder then walking around the 30cm rim of the tower carrying an 8kg bracket and 8m of cable ... Once the bracket and cable were in place a cherry picker raised the spider into position and it was secured with the three cables."
Soldiers Memorial Hall
This striking building, thought to be the largest Soldiers Memorial Hall in Australia, was built in 1923 to commemorate the soldiers who fought and died in World War I. It is a building out of all proportion to the town. The Albury Banner and Wodonga Express wrote on 2 November, 1923: "There was a large assemblage at Urana to witness the laying of the foundation stone of the Urana Soldiers' Memorial Hall. The building will provide a large dancing hall, stage, dressing-room, supper-room, kitchen, library, reading-room, committee room, sample room, and soldiers' club room. The plans were prepared by the shire engineer, Mr. H. W. Hutchings. Mr. F. E. Whitehead, chairman of the memorial committee, presided and the ceremony of laying the foundation stone was performed by Cr. Otway Falkiner, who was presented with an address of welcome and a silver trowel. Speeches were also made by Lieut.-Colonel Thompson (Daysdale) and Cr. D. D. Culley, president of Urana Shire. Besides £2,500 promised, another £585 was donated at the ceremony. During the afternoon, at the instigation of Mrs. Otway Falkiner, a branch of the Country Women's organisation was formed, and Mr. Falkiner promised to purchase a block of land and erect thereon a small cottage, to assist the aim of the organisation. Mrs. Falkiner was elected president of the branch, and other office-bearers were also appointed. The Diggers held a ball at night, which was most successful."
Other Attractions in the Area
Lake Urana Nature Reserve
Lake Urana Nature Reserve is a salt lake located 10 km west of Urana. It lies on the shore of Lake Urana, an intermittent lake filled by flood flows on average every ten to twenty years. The reserve has an area of 302 ha and was dedicated in 1996. It is home to one of the few remaining stands of yellow box in the Riverina. The reserve is an important area of remnant habitat for native animals of the western slopes and plains, particularly for birds, of which 37 species have been observed including the red-rumped parrot, brown treecreeper, striated pardalote , spiny-cheeked honeyeater , striped honeyeater, grey-crowned babbler and when the lake is flooded, waterbirds such as wood ducks, Pacific black duck, Australian grey teal, yellow-billed spoonbill, black-fronted dotterel and magpie lark. The lake's Aboriginal history dates back 25-30,000 years ago with burials, grinding dishes and ovens being found in the lunette on the eastern side of the lake.
Boree Creek
Some years ago the tiny township of Boree Creek gained prominence as the home town of Federal National Party leader and Deputy Prime Minister, Tim Fischer. Today this tiny town's main claim to fame is that the very prolific Scrap Art sculptor, Andrew Whitehead, has made a scrap Swaggie which is worth a visit.
Morundah Horse Sculpture
Local sculptor, Andrew Whitehead (who is responsible for the Big Spider in Urana) has also sculpted Toolbox and Jockey which, as he explained is "a scrap metal sculpture commissioned to celebrate 100 years of bush racing. I started with a horse skull, built a wire scale copy then clad it in scrap. The body line and stance were from many net images. The secret of success or failure is the line from the nose to the end of the tail. Look at attached photo You know when it is correct. I made the work in 14 slip-together pieces so that I could weld the insides as well as install it indoors if that was required. There was a lot of difficulty finding the right shape and size scrap parts, but as you can see on the legs if you maintain correct proportion between the parts the size can be a little wrong but it still looks believable. I am very happy with the result." The finished work can be seen at the tiny town of Morundah
History
* Prior to European occupation the area was home to the Wiradjuri Aboriginal people.
* The squatters, O'Neill and Smith, too up 25,600 acres of land in the area in 1847. They called their property Uranna.
* The town was formally gazetted in 1859. It was the first village in the central Riverina.
* The Urana Post Office opened in 1861.
* In 1862 the first Court of Petty Sessions was held in Urana.
* On 20 August 1863 when the bushranger, Dan 'Mad Dog' Morgan held up the Wagga Police Magistrate, Henry Baylis, as Baylis was riding from Wagga to Urana to hold court.
* By 1866 the town had both the Urana and the Royal George Hotel.
* The present Court House was completed in 1880 and cost £1,867/17/-
* In 1881 the Police Barracks and Lockup were built beside the Court House.
* The local Catholic Church was consecrated in 1882-1883.
* Urana Shire Council was proclaimed in 1906.
* The last court sitting in Urana occurred in 1983.
^ TOPVisitor Information
There is no Visitor Information Centre in Urana. The closest is the Corowa Visitor Information centre which is located in the Corowa Shire Civic Centre, 100 Edward Street, tel: 1800 814 054.
^ TOPUseful Websites
There is a new site http://www.urana.com.au which is useful and very informative. The North of the Murray website - check out https://www.visitthemurray.com.au/places-to-go/east/corowaregion/places/urana - has lots of useful information.
^ TOP
We like your shire. We wish ours was like yours. We’re from the Hunter Valley west of Newcastle.
The links need updating now Urana is part of the Federation Council. Corowa Tourist Info Centre covers Urana now. The other hotel was the The Royal George. Urana Aquatic Centre is a great visit for water sports, relaxing great facilities
My father, Bert Reef, ran Urana bakery from March, 1959 until October 1962.
He and his wife Rie were Dutch migrants. We had spent almost 2 years in Villawood Hostel before Dad made an arrangement with Wise Bros. flour mills to procure the bakery in Osborne St. Their youngest child was born in the local hospital. With the decline of the agricultural prices and subsequent exodus of mainly young people to other places, the bakery slowly lost business and became unviable. He sold it at a loss and we all (parents and 6 children) returned to Holland in November 1962 from Melbourne with the SS Falvia. The bakery, empty and abandoned was burnt to the ground sometime in the 1990’s. 3 years later saw us settled in Ivanhoe, NSW only for history to repeat itself. It too was sold at a loss and was later burned to the ground in 1979. Is there some irony there?
I am researching the Smith family who lived in Urana. Joseph and his wife had 10 children and I am coming from the point of view of Patrick John Smith. I found on Trove “He was born at Urana, and had resided in Brighton Street, Richmond, for the last 26 years. The deceased was noted for his rugged honesty in expression and his loyalty to his friends. Prior to settling in Richmond he followed the occupation of a contractor and all round rural worker. As a bushman he had few, equals, and in his occupation of a drover did much “over landing ” and performed many difficult journeys, transferring stock over routes that were hundreds of miles in length.
I am not sure that he was born in Urana but he lived there. I am interested to know if the Smith who was a squatter with O’Neil is a relative. Is there anywhere I can research this further?
best to contact the museum more details on http://www.urana.com.au
Interesting reference to the original Smith family, I happen to have a family story handed down through the local family story,
My understanding is that the 1st white baby born in Urana area, was Neville Smith buried in the Urana cemetery, now the extended family and defendants still live in the area, Nugget Smith and his wife owned the Hill store for many year’s, and according to family oral history. The large amount of land was a gambling disaster and somehow lost a huge amount of land.I think a son of Nugget Smith had the Ned Kelly museum in Jerilderie nsw, in the late to early 2000, There’s family still in the area. John Bentham is 1 of Nugget Smith’s many grandchildren
A lot of details need updating because of almalgamation. Links to urana shire sites dead plus Corowa is now Federation Council
A great caravan park spotlessly clean amenities, hot showers, wonderful hosts and – a nice touch – homemade scones on arrival.
This web page has no real photos to indicate what Urana consists of or even looks like! I had a friend move there to work & wanted to put things in perspective.
The ONLY clear picture I obtained was of the prolific highly creative talents of the scrap metal artist from Boree!
For the majority of the last 30000 plus this land was cared for by the Bpangerang people
My name is Pamelia Smith my Father owned a pharmacy? in or store? Urana I don’t know the address his name was Emond Billington Lamington if anyone has any information I would love to here from you. Thank you. Pamelia Smith
Is the Royal George hotel for sale?
My father, Bert Reef, ran Urana bakery from March, 1959 until October 1962.
He and his wife Rie were Dutch migrants. We had spent almost 2 years in Villawood Hostel before Dad made an arrangement with Wise Bros. flour mills to procure the bakery in Osborne St. Their youngest child was born in the local hospital. With the decline of the agricultural prices and subsequent exodus of mainly young people to other places, the bakery slowly lost business and became unviable. He sold it at a loss and we all (parents and 6 children) returned to Holland in November 1962 from Melbourne with the SS Falvia. The bakery, empty and abandoned was burnt to the ground sometime in the 1990’s. 3 years later saw us settled in Ivanhoe, NSW only for history to repeat itself. It too was sold at a loss and was later burned to the ground in 1979. Is there some irony there?
Know some old threads here but was interested in Christine Halls contribution. I am fairly sure my grandparents now deceased purchased the bakery off your parents in 1962. They had it until 66 or 67 and built a bakery in Cootamundra also with the help of Wise Bros.I am doing a bit of research on my family history and would love to hear if you have any old photos of the bakery back then. Cheers Grant
Probably knew your grandparents Grant, if they lived opposite the Catholic presbytery.
They had a couple of boys, the youngest called ‘possum’.
Further to Christine Hall’s comment. I have used the Urana Aquatic Centre caravan park on manty occasions. Has always been superb. As a Urana original (1942) it was source of pride for my family. Even put the kayak in the billabong.
I believe I actually worked in Reef’s bakery in Urana back then. I was a schoolboy, and did not work full time. There were two young men who did the baking, I thought one might have been the brother -in-law of Bert. My memories include:
a. One pensioner who purchased only a quarter of a loaf of bread for her and her husband
b. Meat pies being made for Saturday – football
c. A mice plague, where the bin would run with live mice when the flour was tipped in, Those mice had to be extracted, though one could occasionally find one cooked into one’s loaf.
d. Learning to tie the loaf and break the string on my finger. Easy when you know how.
e. We had also to wrap breads for Roadside Mailbox delivery by the mailman in his car. Several times I accompanied the mailman on his route. My job to open and close the gates of every property we traversed. Got to know the farms.
f. The Reef trio were a happy group and taught me some Dutch words which I was never game to try on my mother.
I can’t recall where they lived in town. My older brother would have known.!
Best wishes to the descendants of Bert and his family.
Peter Desmond
Pamela
Urana never had a pharmacy, nor did a store provide prescriptions.
Prescriptions were filled by the Corowa pharmacy and delivered to the Urana cafe by bus, along with the newspapers, which could be three days late on a Monday night.
Dr Macknight has a Memorial in the Park. Roads named after him. Father of Dame Ella Macknight first lady surgeon in Australia.
In 1989 the remains of a indigenous female was discovered in the Urana shire sand pit. That sand pit was used for at least 11 to 12 years. Urana shire’s own government plan in the early 2000s said that aboriginal significance recorded officially as zero.
General manager John Hunt. Interesting the local government and or local court house museum has not an art picture or any family that has indigenous family tree are not included in their culture, or any information about indigenous peoples at all , even when receiving any such information or stories from indigenous peoples. that information will disappear, never seeking to replace it.
Urana is soulless and this is in part why,
Hi my family and i actually used to live in Urana in the 80’s and i loved it. My parents used to run the Urana Hotel for like 4-5 years and i went to school at Urana Primary/High School and made lot good friends, i do also remember playing netball i miss being there sometimes i loved it ❤