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Rappville, New South Wales

November 12, 2023

Rappville is a small village in northern New South Wales, Australia. At the 2016 census, Rappville recorded a population of 169 people.

Rappville
New South Wales
Rappville
Location in New South Wales
Coordinates29°5′S 152°57′E / 29.083°S 152.950°E / -29.083; 152.950
Population169 (2016 census)[1]
Postcode(s)2469
Elevation51 m (167 ft)
Location
LGA(s)Richmond Valley Council
RegionNorthern Rivers
CountyRichmond
ParishNandabah
State electorate(s)Clarence
Federal division(s)Page
Localities around Rappville:
Casino
Rappville Woodburn
Whiporie

History edit

The district in which Rappville is situated was initially developed by European settlers for cattle grazing (for example the very extensive Wooroowoolga Station) and forestry (first, cedar getting, then other species) from the 1840s onwards; to these rural industries was added dairying, which became an important component from the 1860s for almost the next 100 years.[2] Initially, rural products were transported by road and the network of navigable rivers, however in 1903 the small but growing North Coast railway line reached Casino and two years later was extended south to Grafton. A sawmiller named John Murray established his sawmill by the new railway in an area initially called Murray's Siding, to exploit both the local supply of timber and the onward rail connections first to Casino and thence to the then inland port town of Lismore, sited at the highest navigable point of an arm of the Richmond (later renamed Wilsons) River. It appears that whole logs were also loaded for downstream milling, as may be judged by the following item appearing in the Sydney Morning Herald for 15 November 1906:

LARGE TIMBER TRAIN.

LISMORE, Wednesday.

A special timber train, which arrived here from Murray's siding, Grafton-Casino line, consisted of 13 eight-wheel waggons and six other vehicles. It was the longest and heaviest timber train seen here. Two engines were used to bring the train from Casino. The consignment, about 400 tons, was for the Richmond River Timber Company. About 400 tons of log timber are brought in weekly, 37 to 40 miles, for that company, and the British-Australia Company's mills, formerly Dorrough's. Large quantities of timber are obtained from other sources.[3]

With the thriving timber cutting, sawmilling, and outbound timber supply industry, the nucleus of a new settlement grew up around the siding which by 1910 contained a butcher, a blacksmith, a small store, a school (opened in 1908), a church (opened in 1910, dedicated in 1911) and a bakery; it was formally gazetted as "Rappville" in March 1911,[4] named after a prominent early settler and businessman Henry Rapp, who first selected land in the area in 1888. In the same year, Rapp opened his new Commercial Hotel, designed by the local architectural firm of Popplewell and Sykes, on a site opposite the small Rappville Railway Station.[5] (By 1923 the rail link was extended south to Sydney and by 1930 to north to Brisbane, opening up the whole of the north coast of New South Wales to rail traffic); Rapp's Commercial Hotel operated using the licence from a previous establishment of the same name owned by his wife's mother in the neighbouring settlement of Myrtle Creek, of which virtually nothing now remains. 1911 also saw construction of a new railway station allowing passengers to alight and take their lunches at the newly constructed hotel and adjacent tea rooms. Other businesses in the village included a second butcher, an ice works, a second produce store and a branch of the Bank of New South Wales which also operated as a post office.[6]

Through to the 1930s the village was fairly prosperous but has declined since then, in part because of a move of much passenger and freight traffic from rail to road as well as the gradual reduction of the timber industry.[7] In 1997, a community workshop/discussion session in the village as input to the North East New South Wales Regional Forest Agreement identified additional factors contributing to population decline since the 1980s including the increased difficulty of making a living from cattle grazing, the closure of nearby cattle yards and small timber mills, the loss of railway/sleeper workers following the closure of a local railway sleeper yard in 1987, and the loss of customers visiting the pub following the introduction of new drink-driving laws; however this was partially offset by the establishment of commercial tea tree plantations in the region as well as a modest influx of newcomers from the city attracted by cheap land prices in the area.[6]

The Sydney-Brisbane railway line continues to pass through the village, although the station has long closed and associated buildings have since disappeared.[8] The most prominent building in the village is still the Commercial Hotel, also known as the Rappville Pub.[9] The village also contains a post office, a hall, an Anglican church (St. John's, which celebrated its Centenary in 2011) and a primary school. The hotel was due to be closed in 2016 on account of difficulty in meeting current fire regulations,[10] but is presently (2019) open and under restoration, having changed hands in 2017. In 2008, the village played host to the film crew of the popular U.K. Television series "Heartbeat" who filmed parts of two episodes at the Hotel, as part of a plotline which took the cast and crew to Australia following a murder mystery.[11]

An additional local item of interest is the remains of a bush tea tree still: distillation of tea tree oil from native bushes was a subsidiary occupation for farmers in the area, until it was replaced by production from commercial plantations in the 1970s.[12] Commercial cultivation of the local tea tree plant, Melaleuca alternifolia, which is native to the area and thrives in the flat, seasonally swampy habitat that surrounds Rappville, is now very successful. In a 2013 article, Main Camp Natural Extracts near Rappville was described as "the world's largest commercial plantation" of tea tree for oil, with 1,500 hectares of tea tree under production at its peak, with half of that figure remaining as at 2013;[13] according to the company's website in 2019, its Myrtle Creek property currently spans some 4,300 ha and using sustainable practices, regenerates over 30 million tea trees each year on laser leveled land.[14]

The area which includes Rappville lies in the traditional lands of the Aboriginal Bundjalung Nation, and contained speakers of the Birrihn (or Biriin) dialect.[15]

2019 bushfire disaster edit

In October 2019 the village was devastated as a destructive bushfire that started in Busbys Flat raced through the residential area, leading to the loss of at least 15 houses although no lives were believed to have been lost. The village's pub and primary school were saved although the hall was destroyed. The fire also resulted in significant damage to the Sydney-Brisbane railway line, loss of local power and telecommunications infrastructure, and closure of adjacent highways to traffic in several places.[16][17]

Bibliography edit

References edit

  1. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Rappville (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 6 January 2018.  
  2. ^ Gardiner, pp. 74–75
  3. ^ The Sydney Morning Herald Thu 15 Nov 1906 Page 5 LARGE TIMBER TRAIN. Available via trove.nla.gov.au
  4. ^ "Village Lands at Rappville". Department of Lands, Sydney, 22 March 1911. Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales (Sydney, NSW : 1901 – 2001), p. 1732.
  5. ^ Gardiner, p. 52
  6. ^ a b Anonymous, 1999: "Social Assessment NSW Upper North EAST CRA Regions: A report undertaken for the NSW CRA/RFA Steering Committee, 22 September 1999". Available online at http://www.agriculture.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/rfa/regions/nsw-north-east/social-economic/social-assessment/upper-ne-nsw/social-assessment-report-une.pdf
  7. ^ Gardiner, p. 73
  8. ^ Rappville station. NSWrail.net, accessed 1 September 2009.
  9. ^ Rappville. Australian explorer, accessed 1 September 2009.
  10. ^ "Tiny town of Rappville rallies to save historic pub". ABC News. 20 September 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  11. ^ "Rappville just a Heartbeat away from fame". Northern Star. 26 August 2008. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  12. ^ Gardiner, pp. 75–76
  13. ^ "Troubled waters for oils". The Land. 24 November 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  14. ^ "Main Camp Natural Extracts: The Property". Main Camp Natural Extracts. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  15. ^ "Bundjalung Nation – Planet Corroboree". planetcorroboree.com.au. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  16. ^ "RAPPVILLE HIT: Homes lost to fire, saving lives a priority". www.northernstar.com.au. 8 October 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  17. ^ "Rappville residents take stock after bushfire rips through the northern New South Wales town". ABC News. 10 October 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2019.

Further reading edit

  • Rappville Public School. 2008. "Rappville Public School 1908–2008 : centenary of public education in a rural community." 188 pp. Details on Trove
  • "Rappville, the hard way". uniquelynorthcoast.wordpress.com, 19 June 2016 (includes a reproduction of a "History of Rappville" document which supplies some of the material in the article above)
  • 2010 Geocaching post containing additional information on the history of the village (equivalent primary sources not yet traced)

External links edit

  • Map of Rappville, NSW on OpenStreetMap
  • Satellite image/aerial view of Rappville, NSW via Google Maps
  • Historic image of a locomotive with associated workers, apparently at Rappville, early 20th century
  • 1920 Photograph of the Commercial Hotel by photographer Michael Terry (1899–1981), an item in the Michael Terry collection of negatives of his expeditions and travels, 1918–1971
  • Rappville Railway Station, 1920 by Michael Terry (1899–1981) (from the same collection)
  • The Commercial Hotel in 1942 (image via www.northernstar.com.au)
  • Additional historic images of the Rappville Commercial Hotel from the Australian National University Archive and Library Collections (Tooth & Company Limited yellow cards)
  • Property details of the Rappville Commercial Hotel on realestate.com.au (last sold 2017)
  • Current (2019) "Rappville Pub" website
  • Profile of Rappville Public School, Rappville, NSW on the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) "My School" website

{

Preceding station Former Services Following station
Coombell
towards Brisbane
 North Coast Line Myrtle Creek
towards Maitland

November 12, 2023
rappville, south, wales, rappville, small, village, northern, south, wales, australia, 2016, census, rappville, recorded, population, people, rappville, south, walesrappvillelocation, south, walescoordinates29, 950population169, 2016, census, postcode, 2469ele. Rappville is a small village in northern New South Wales Australia At the 2016 census Rappville recorded a population of 169 people Rappville New South WalesRappvilleLocation in New South WalesCoordinates29 5 S 152 57 E 29 083 S 152 950 E 29 083 152 950Population169 2016 census 1 Postcode s 2469Elevation51 m 167 ft Location230 km 143 mi S of Brisbane68 km 42 mi SW of Lismore87 km 54 mi n of GraftonLGA s Richmond Valley CouncilRegionNorthern RiversCountyRichmondParishNandabahState electorate s ClarenceFederal division s PageLocalities around Rappville CasinoRappville WoodburnWhiporie Contents 1 History 1 1 2019 bushfire disaster 2 Bibliography 3 References 4 Further reading 5 External linksHistory editThe district in which Rappville is situated was initially developed by European settlers for cattle grazing for example the very extensive Wooroowoolga Station and forestry first cedar getting then other species from the 1840s onwards to these rural industries was added dairying which became an important component from the 1860s for almost the next 100 years 2 Initially rural products were transported by road and the network of navigable rivers however in 1903 the small but growing North Coast railway line reached Casino and two years later was extended south to Grafton A sawmiller named John Murray established his sawmill by the new railway in an area initially called Murray s Siding to exploit both the local supply of timber and the onward rail connections first to Casino and thence to the then inland port town of Lismore sited at the highest navigable point of an arm of the Richmond later renamed Wilsons River It appears that whole logs were also loaded for downstream milling as may be judged by the following item appearing in the Sydney Morning Herald for 15 November 1906 LARGE TIMBER TRAIN LISMORE Wednesday A special timber train which arrived here from Murray s siding Grafton Casino line consisted of 13 eight wheel waggons and six other vehicles It was the longest and heaviest timber train seen here Two engines were used to bring the train from Casino The consignment about 400 tons was for the Richmond River Timber Company About 400 tons of log timber are brought in weekly 37 to 40 miles for that company and the British Australia Company s mills formerly Dorrough s Large quantities of timber are obtained from other sources 3 With the thriving timber cutting sawmilling and outbound timber supply industry the nucleus of a new settlement grew up around the siding which by 1910 contained a butcher a blacksmith a small store a school opened in 1908 a church opened in 1910 dedicated in 1911 and a bakery it was formally gazetted as Rappville in March 1911 4 named after a prominent early settler and businessman Henry Rapp who first selected land in the area in 1888 In the same year Rapp opened his new Commercial Hotel designed by the local architectural firm of Popplewell and Sykes on a site opposite the small Rappville Railway Station 5 By 1923 the rail link was extended south to Sydney and by 1930 to north to Brisbane opening up the whole of the north coast of New South Wales to rail traffic Rapp s Commercial Hotel operated using the licence from a previous establishment of the same name owned by his wife s mother in the neighbouring settlement of Myrtle Creek of which virtually nothing now remains 1911 also saw construction of a new railway station allowing passengers to alight and take their lunches at the newly constructed hotel and adjacent tea rooms Other businesses in the village included a second butcher an ice works a second produce store and a branch of the Bank of New South Wales which also operated as a post office 6 Through to the 1930s the village was fairly prosperous but has declined since then in part because of a move of much passenger and freight traffic from rail to road as well as the gradual reduction of the timber industry 7 In 1997 a community workshop discussion session in the village as input to the North East New South Wales Regional Forest Agreement identified additional factors contributing to population decline since the 1980s including the increased difficulty of making a living from cattle grazing the closure of nearby cattle yards and small timber mills the loss of railway sleeper workers following the closure of a local railway sleeper yard in 1987 and the loss of customers visiting the pub following the introduction of new drink driving laws however this was partially offset by the establishment of commercial tea tree plantations in the region as well as a modest influx of newcomers from the city attracted by cheap land prices in the area 6 The Sydney Brisbane railway line continues to pass through the village although the station has long closed and associated buildings have since disappeared 8 The most prominent building in the village is still the Commercial Hotel also known as the Rappville Pub 9 The village also contains a post office a hall an Anglican church St John s which celebrated its Centenary in 2011 and a primary school The hotel was due to be closed in 2016 on account of difficulty in meeting current fire regulations 10 but is presently 2019 open and under restoration having changed hands in 2017 In 2008 the village played host to the film crew of the popular U K Television series Heartbeat who filmed parts of two episodes at the Hotel as part of a plotline which took the cast and crew to Australia following a murder mystery 11 An additional local item of interest is the remains of a bush tea tree still distillation of tea tree oil from native bushes was a subsidiary occupation for farmers in the area until it was replaced by production from commercial plantations in the 1970s 12 Commercial cultivation of the local tea tree plant Melaleuca alternifolia which is native to the area and thrives in the flat seasonally swampy habitat that surrounds Rappville is now very successful In a 2013 article Main Camp Natural Extracts near Rappville was described as the world s largest commercial plantation of tea tree for oil with 1 500 hectares of tea tree under production at its peak with half of that figure remaining as at 2013 13 according to the company s website in 2019 its Myrtle Creek property currently spans some 4 300 ha and using sustainable practices regenerates over 30 million tea trees each year on laser leveled land 14 The area which includes Rappville lies in the traditional lands of the Aboriginal Bundjalung Nation and contained speakers of the Birrihn or Biriin dialect 15 2019 bushfire disaster edit In October 2019 the village was devastated as a destructive bushfire that started in Busbys Flat raced through the residential area leading to the loss of at least 15 houses although no lives were believed to have been lost The village s pub and primary school were saved although the hall was destroyed The fire also resulted in significant damage to the Sydney Brisbane railway line loss of local power and telecommunications infrastructure and closure of adjacent highways to traffic in several places 16 17 Bibliography editGardiner Jane 2007 Richmond Valley Council Community Based Heritage Study Volume 1 Co ordinator s Report to the Richmond Valley Council 96 pp Available online at https richmondvalley nsw gov au wp content uploads 2018 09 137833 Richmond Valley Heritage Study pdfReferences edit Australian Bureau of Statistics 27 June 2017 Rappville State Suburb 2016 Census QuickStats Retrieved 6 January 2018 nbsp Gardiner pp 74 75 The Sydney Morning Herald Thu 15 Nov 1906 Page 5 LARGE TIMBER TRAIN Available via trove nla gov au Village Lands at Rappville Department of Lands Sydney 22 March 1911 Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales Sydney NSW 1901 2001 p 1732 Gardiner p 52 a b Anonymous 1999 Social Assessment NSW Upper North EAST CRA Regions A report undertaken for the NSW CRA RFA Steering Committee 22 September 1999 Available online at http www agriculture gov au SiteCollectionDocuments rfa regions nsw north east social economic social assessment upper ne nsw social assessment report une pdf Gardiner p 73 Rappville station NSWrail net accessed 1 September 2009 Rappville Australian explorer accessed 1 September 2009 Tiny town of Rappville rallies to save historic pub ABC News 20 September 2016 Retrieved 11 October 2019 Rappville just a Heartbeat away from fame Northern Star 26 August 2008 Retrieved 12 October 2019 Gardiner pp 75 76 Troubled waters for oils The Land 24 November 2013 Retrieved 12 October 2019 Main Camp Natural Extracts The Property Main Camp Natural Extracts Retrieved 12 October 2019 Bundjalung Nation Planet Corroboree planetcorroboree com au Retrieved 11 October 2019 RAPPVILLE HIT Homes lost to fire saving lives a priority www northernstar com au 8 October 2019 Retrieved 11 October 2019 Rappville residents take stock after bushfire rips through the northern New South Wales town ABC News 10 October 2019 Retrieved 11 October 2019 Further reading editRappville Public School 2008 Rappville Public School 1908 2008 centenary of public education in a rural community 188 pp Details on Trove Rappville the hard way uniquelynorthcoast wordpress com 19 June 2016 includes a reproduction of a History of Rappville document which supplies some of the material in the article above 2010 Geocaching post containing additional information on the history of the village equivalent primary sources not yet traced External links editMap of Rappville NSW on OpenStreetMap Satellite image aerial view of Rappville NSW via Google Maps Historic image of a locomotive with associated workers apparently at Rappville early 20th century 1920 Photograph of the Commercial Hotel by photographer Michael Terry 1899 1981 an item in the Michael Terry collection of negatives of his expeditions and travels 1918 1971 Rappville Railway Station 1920 by Michael Terry 1899 1981 from the same collection The Commercial Hotel in 1942 image via www northernstar com au Additional historic images of the Rappville Commercial Hotel from the Australian National University Archive and Library Collections Tooth amp Company Limited yellow cards Property details of the Rappville Commercial Hotel on realestate com au last sold 2017 Current 2019 Rappville Pub website Profile of Rappville Public School Rappville NSW on the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority ACARA My School website Preceding station Former Services Following stationCoombelltowards Brisbane North Coast Line Myrtle Creektowards Maitland Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Rappville New South Wales amp oldid 1115319538, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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