New South Wales - Darling River Run Tilpa to Wilcannia
Australia So Much to See
The origin of the name Tilpa comes from the Baakandji word "thulpa", which means "floodwaters". With a flood plain of seventy
kilometres wide, Tilpa uses the term “The Village on the Floodplain” as its slogan.
A bridge linking to the south east side road was built in 1963, prior to which a punt was used for crossing the river.
Approaching
the bridge from the south east side of the river (above).
Tilpa, on north west side of river, dates back to 1855 when pastoralists came into the area, and Tilpa was proclaimed a town in 1866.
The first business in Tilpa was when Arthur Cotton opened a store in 1876. James Buckley built the Wee Wattah Hotel where the Tilpa
Hotel is now located, that the same year.
In 1894 Cotton's store was owned by David Jones and Co. The next owner, Edmond
Perrott, turned it into a hotel named the Royal. This in turn became known as Tilpa Hotel. This small corrugated iron
hotel is over 100 years old, and is the central feature of this tiny town which has a population of nine.
Tilpa
also has the shortest heritage trail in Australia, comprising just two signs on either side of the main road. The Tilpa Cemetery
is said to be the only one in Australia with no one in it.
It is claimed that Tilpa has the only Boer War Memorial that includes a commemorative to Harry (The Breaker) Morant. However
it is not the only one. What is Breaker Morant’s connection with Tilpa? Morant worked on many stations in New South Wales
and Queensland and his connection with Tilpa is that he worked on Kallara station near Tilpa.
In addition to Harry Morant,
Tilpa has had its share of famous or notorious visitors over the years; Captain Starlight rode through in 1868 and held up several
stations, and more recently author Arthur Upfield’s Boney books were written about this area. Kidman, Tyson and McCaughey created
pastoral kingdoms of unparalleled proportions; and the horses for the Light horsemen of World War I were bred on these vast plains.