NSWFarming
Wagga Wagga
A river crossing serving the Riverina.
1849Village surveyed and gazetted
WHAT STARTED IT
Wagga Wagga grew around pastoral properties and traffic crossing the Murrumbidgee. Inns and stores supplied travellers and nearby stations, while courts and postal services made it an administrative centre for the district.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
Agricultural business sustained the district’s market town. Administration, education, health and defence broadened its role into a regional service centre.
Read the fuller history
Thomas Scott Townsend marked out the town in 1849, the year it was gazetted as a village. Businesses and industries developed with the surrounding agricultural economy. Its regional role broadened into education, health and defence.
TURNING POINTS
1849The town is surveyed and gazetted as a village.
1870Municipal government gives the growing town its own council.
1981The city amalgamated with Kyeamba and Mitchell shires, creating the present City of Wagga Wagga local-government area.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A substantial Riverina city and service hub, with agricultural business, training institutions and a busy cultural life. The Murrumbidgee remains a defining feature of the city.