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{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Use Australian English|date=June 2011}}
{{Use Australian English|date=June 2011}}

{{Infobox Australian place
{{Infobox Australian place
| type = town
| type = town
| name = Bargo
| name = Bargo
| region = [[Macarthur (New South Wales)|Macarthur]]
| region = [[Macarthur (New South Wales)|Macarthur]]
| state = nsw
| state = nsw
| coordinates = {{coord|34|18|S|150|35|E|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates = {{Coord|-34.290955|150.579701|display=inline|format=dms}}
| pushpin_label_position = right
| pushpin_label_position = right
| lga = [[Wollondilly Shire]]
| lga = [[Wollondilly Shire]]
| postcode = 2574
| postcode = 2574
| pop = 4393
| pop = 4393
| pop_year = {{CensusAU|2016}}
| pop_year = {{CensusAU|2016}}
| pop_footnotes = <ref name="Census">{{Census 2016 AUS|id=SSC10198|name=Bargo |accessdate=13 July 2017|quick=on}}</ref>
| pop_footnotes =<ref name="Census">{{Census 2016 AUS|id=SSC10198|name=Bargo |access-date=13 July 2017|quick=on}}</ref>
| elevation = 338
| stategov = [[Electoral district of Wollondilly|Wollondilly]]
| fedgov = [[Division of Hume|Hume]]
| stategov = [[Electoral district of Wollondilly|Wollondilly]]
| near-s = [[Yanderra, New South Wales|Yanderra]]
| fedgov = [[Division of Hume|Hume]]
| near-se = [[Upper Nepean Scheme#Avon Dam|Upper Nepean Catchment Area]]
| near-s = [[Yanderra, New South Wales|Yanderra]]
| near-e = [[Pheasants Nest, New South Wales|Pheasants Nest]]
| near-se = [[Upper Nepean Scheme#Avon Dam|Upper Nepean Catchment Area]]
| near-nw = [[Couridjah, New South Wales|Couridjah]]
| near-e = [[Pheasants Nest, New South Wales|Pheasants Nest]]
| near-n = [[Tahmoor, New South Wales|Tahmoor]]
| near-nw = [[Couridjah, New South Wales|Couridjah]]
| near-n = [[Tahmoor, New South Wales|Tahmoor]]
| dist1 = 100
| dir1 = South-West
| dist1 = 100
| dir1 = South-West
| location1= [[Sydney CBD]]
| location1 = [[Sydney CBD]]
| dist2 = 15
| dir2 = South
| location2 = {{NSWcity|Picton}}
| dist3 = 25
| dir3 = North-East
| location3 = {{NSWcity|Mittagong}}
}}
}}


'''Bargo''' is a small town of the [[Macarthur, New South Wales|Macarthur Region]], [[New South Wales]], [[Australia]], in the [[Wollondilly Shire]]. It is approximately 100&nbsp;km south west of [[Sydney, New South Wales|Sydney]].
'''Bargo''' is a town in the [[Macarthur, New South Wales|Macarthur Region]] of [[Sydney]] in [[New South Wales]], Australia, in the [[Wollondilly Shire]]. It is located approximately halfway between [[Campbelltown, New South Wales|Campbelltown]] and [[Bowral]], about 100&nbsp;km south west of the Sydney CBD.


It is situated between the township of [[Tahmoor, New South Wales|Tahmoor]] (north) and the village of [[Yanderra, New South Wales|Yanderra]] (south), and accessible via the Hume Highway that links Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne. It was previously known as '''West Bargo''' and '''Cobargo'''.
It is situated between the township of [[Tahmoor, New South Wales|Tahmoor]] (north) and the village of [[Yanderra, New South Wales|Yanderra]] (south), and accessible via the Hume Highway that links Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne. It was previously known as '''West Bargo''' and '''Cobargo'''.


==Facilities==
==History==
[[File:Bargo Station 2.jpg|thumb|left|Bargo station]]

[[Bargo railway station, New South Wales|Bargo railway station]] was first opened on 19 July 1919 as ''West Bargo'' and then renamed in 1921 as ''Bargo''.<ref>[http://www.nswrail.net/locations/show.php?name=NSW:Bargo&line=NSW:main_south:0 NSWrail.net | Bargo Station]</ref> The station is part of the [[Main Southern railway line, New South Wales|Main South Line]] and is served by [[NSW TrainLink]]'s [[Southern Highlands Line]]. The original Bargo railway station building on the eastern side of the platform was destroyed by [[arson]]. Currently in use is a permanent [[demountable]] building.

[[File:Bargo Australia Main Street.jpg|thumb|right|Bargo township, on Remembrance Drive]]
[[File:Bargo Australia Main Street.jpg|thumb|right|Bargo township, on Remembrance Drive]]
The name Bargo may be derived from the local [[Australian Aboriginal languages|Aboriginal language]] name ''Barago'', meaning cripple, thick scrub, or brushwood.<ref>{{cite book |first=A. W |last=Reed |year=1973 |title=Australian Place Names |publisher=Reed |location=Artarmon |isbn=0-589-07115-7}}</ref> The earliest reference to ''Barago'' was noted as by [[George Caley]] in a letter to [[Joseph Banks|Sir Joseph Banks]] on 25 September 1807. The [[Aboriginal Australians|Aboriginal people]], called the Bargo area ''Narregarang'', meaning that the soil was not firm – a shaky place.<ref name=Bayley>{{cite book |last=Bayley |first=W. A |year=1973 |title=Picton-Mittagong Loop-Line Railway |pages=8–11 |location=Bulli |publisher=Austrail |isbn=978-0-909597-14-6}}</ref><ref>{{NSW GNR|id=MajtWyWA|title=Bargo|access-date=10 June 2009}}</ref> Caley's Aboriginal guide Mowatiin referred to the area's name as meaning "place of cliffs" or "thick shrubs".<ref>{{cite web | title=Bargo, Pheasants Nest & Yanderra | website=Visit Wollondilly | url=https://www.visitwollondilly.com.au/experience/towns-and-villages/bargo-pheasants-nest-and-yanderra/ | access-date=27 May 2024}}</ref>


Early explorers and convicts found getting through the Bargo area a difficult experience due to the thick scrub, explorers dubbing the tricky bush the "Bargo Brush". In early colonial times, Bargo Brush became notorious among travellers for harbouring convicts who had escaped from captivity and become [[bushrangers]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Appleton |first=R & B |year=1992 |title=The Cambridge Dictionary of Australian Places |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-39506-2}}</ref>
Bargo's community facilities include a racetrack, tennis courts, sporting fields and skate park. Its commercial facilities include a hotel, motel, post office, a sports club, two small grocery stores, chemist, bakery, butcher, newsagent, liquor store, restaurants (including bistros at the pub and club), takeaway food, petrol station, pharmacy, car mechanic, two hairdressing salons and several other small businesses, including a used car dealership.


Bayley quotes William Riley, who passed through Bargo Brush on horseback in 1830:<ref name=Bayley/>
There is also a public toilet in the park.


<blockquote>"... a miserable, barren scrub, thickly wooded for eight miles; there having been so much rain lately this abominable part of the road was a continuation of bogs for eight miles." Soon the Brush, with its thickets for hideouts, became the lurking place for robbers and caused travel to become fraught with peril. The ''Sydney Gazette'' of 17 March 1832 reported the road as ". . . one uninterrupted morass"!</blockquote>
==History==


J. H. Heaton, under the heading 'Crimes and Criminals, Remarkable' lists "Desperate conflict between four police and eleven prisoners at Bargo Brush, N.S.W. Constable Raymond shot dead by a prisoner named James Crookwell, 15 April 1866."<ref>{{cite book |author=Heaton, J. H. |year=1879 |title=Australian Dictionary of Dates and Men of the Time: containing the history of Australia from 1542 to May 1879 |location=Sydney |publisher=George Robertson}}</ref>
The name Bargo may be derived from the local [[Australian Aboriginal languages|Aboriginal language]] name ''Barago'', meaning cripple, thick scrub, or brushwood.<ref>{{cite book |first=A. W |last=Reed |year=1973 |title=Australian Place Names |publisher=Reed |location=Artarmon |isbn=0-589-07115-7}}</ref>


Bargo is noted as being where the first recorded sightings of the [[lyrebird]], [[koala]] and [[wombat]] took place by European settlers. Bargo is also near the site of an infamous [[List of massacres of Indigenous Australians|massacre]] in 1816, when settlers forced local Aborigines to walk off a big cliff and shot them if they refused.<ref>{{cite web|last=Fowler|first=Verlie|title=Massacre at Appin in 1816|url=http://www.cahs.com.au/massacre-at-appin-1816.html|work=Campbelltown Stories|publisher=Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society Inc.|access-date=18 May 2012}}</ref> Bargo Police Station, now abandoned, is currently used as a doctors' surgery. The lock-ups remain behind the building. The patrol area of the Bargo Police Station included Pheasants Nest, Bargo, parts of Tahmoor and Yanderra.
The earliest reference to ''Barago'' was noted as by [[George Caley]] in a letter to [[Joseph Banks|Sir Joseph Banks]] on 25 September 1807. The aborigines called the Bargo area ''Narregarang'', meaning that the soil was not firm - a shaky place.<ref name=Bayley>{{cite book |last=Bayley |first=W. A |year=1973 |title=Picton-Mittagong Loop-Line Railway |pages=8–11 |location=Bulli |publisher=Austrail |isbn=978-0-909597-14-6}}</ref><ref>{{NSW GNR|id=MajtWyWA|title=Bargo|accessdate=10 June 2009}}</ref> Early explorers and convicts found getting through the Bargo area a difficult experience due to the thick scrub, explorers dubbing the tricky bush the ''Bargo Brush''. In early Colonial times, 'Bargo Brush' became notorious among travelers for harboring 'bolters', convicts who had escaped from captivity and become [[bushrangers]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Appleton |first=R & B |year=1992 |title=The Cambridge Dictionary of Australian Places |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-39506-2}}</ref>


==Facilities==
Bayley quotes William Riley, who passed through Bargo Brush on horseback in 1830:<ref name=Bayley/>
[[File:Bargo Station 2.jpg|thumb|Bargo station]]
[[Bargo railway station, New South Wales|Bargo railway station]] was first opened on 19 July 1919 as ''West Bargo'' and then renamed in 1921 as ''Bargo''.<ref>[http://www.nswrail.net/locations/show.php?name=NSW:Bargo&line=NSW:main_south:0 NSWrail.net | Bargo Station]</ref> The station is part of the [[Main Southern railway line, New South Wales|Main South Line]] and is served by [[NSW TrainLink]]'s [[Southern Highlands Line]]. The original Bargo railway station building on the eastern side of the platform was destroyed by arson. Currently in use is a permanent [[demountable]] building.


Bargo's community facilities include a racetrack, tennis courts, sporting fields and skate park. Its commercial facilities include a hotel, motel, post office, a sports club, two small grocery stores, chemist, bakery, butcher, newsagent, liquor store, restaurants (including bistros at the pub and club), takeaway food, petrol station, pharmacy, car mechanic, two hairdressing salons and several other small businesses, including a used car dealership.
<blockquote>"... a miserable, barren scrub, thickly wooded for eight miles; there having been so much rain lately this abominable part of the road was a continuation of bogs for eight miles." Soon the Brush, with its thickets for hideouts, became the lurking place for robbers and caused travel to become fraught with peril. The ''Sydney Gazette'' of 17 March 1832 reported the road as ". . . one uninterrupted morass"!</blockquote>


There is also a public toilet in the park.
J. H. Heaton, under the heading 'Crimes and Criminals, Remarkable' lists "Desperate conflict between four police and eleven prisoners at Bargo Brush, N.S.W. Constable Raymond shot dead by a prisoner named James Crookwell, 15 April 1866."<ref>{{cite book |author=Heaton, J. H. |year=1879 |title=Australian Dictionary of Dates and Men of the Time: containing the history of Australia from 1542 to May 1879 |location=Sydney |publisher=George Robertson}}</ref>

Bargo is noted{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}} as being where the first recorded sightings of the [[lyrebird]], [[koala]] and [[wombat]] took place by European settlers. Bargo is also the site of an infamous [[List of massacres of Indigenous Australians|massacre]] in 1816, when settlers forced local Aborigines to walk off a big cliff and shot them if they refused.<ref>{{cite web|last=Fowler|first=Verlie|title=Massacre at Appin in 1816|url=http://www.cahs.com.au/massacre-at-appin-1816.html|work=Campbelltown Stories|publisher=Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society Inc.|access-date=18 May 2012}}</ref> Bargo Police Station, now abandoned, is currently used as a doctors' surgery. The lock-ups remain behind the building. The patrol area of the Bargo Police Station included Pheasants Nest, Bargo, parts of Tahmoor and Yanderra.


== Heritage listings ==
== Heritage listings ==
Bargo has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
Bargo has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
* Avon Dam Road: [[Nepean Dam]]<ref name=nswshr-1368>{{cite NSW SHR|5051477|Nepean Dam|hr=01368|fn=H08/00193; 125181; 13/03104|accessdate=18 May 2018}}</ref>
* Avon Dam Road: [[Nepean Dam]]<ref name=nswshr-1368>{{cite NSW SHR|5051477|Nepean Dam|hr=01368|fn=H08/00193; 125181; 13/03104|access-date=18 May 2018}}</ref>
* Hume Highway: [[Wirrimbirra Sanctuary]]<ref name=nswshr-1508>{{cite NSW SHR|5051261|Wirrimbirra Sanctuary|hr=01508|fn=EF14/5872; S90/7308/001|accessdate=18 May 2018}}</ref>
* Hume Highway: [[Wirrimbirra Sanctuary]]<ref name=nswshr-1508>{{cite NSW SHR|5051261|Wirrimbirra Sanctuary|hr=01508|fn=EF14/5872; S90/7308/001|access-date=18 May 2018}}</ref>
* Main Southern railway 96.265&nbsp;km: [[Bargo railway viaduct]]<ref name=nswshr-1024>{{cite NSW SHR|5045265|Bargo Railway Viaduct|hr=01024|accessdate=18 May 2018}}</ref>
* Main Southern railway 96.265&nbsp;km: [[Bargo railway viaduct]]<ref name=nswshr-1024>{{cite NSW SHR|5045265|Bargo Railway Viaduct|hr=01024|access-date=18 May 2018}}</ref>


==Location==
==Location==
[[File:Bargo aerial.jpg|thumb|Bargo aerial photo from north west]]

The Bargo township border runs from Bargo River Road, south along Bargo River to perpendicular with Tylers Road, along Tylers Road, then south along Silica Road to Remembrance Drive, North along the freeway to perpendicular with and along Dwyers to north along Arina Road and back to Bargo River.
The Bargo township border runs from Bargo River Road, south along Bargo River to perpendicular with Tylers Road, along Tylers Road, then south along Silica Road to Remembrance Drive, North along the freeway to perpendicular with and along Dwyers to north along Arina Road and back to Bargo River.

[[File:Bargo aerial.jpg|thumb|left|Bargo aerial photo from north west]]


==Population==
==Population==
According to the [[Census in Australia#2016|2016 census]] of Population, there were 4,393 people in Bargo.
According to the [[2016 Australian census|2016 census]] of population, there were 4,393 people in Bargo.
* Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 3.4% of the population.
* Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 3.4% of the population.
* 82.6% of people were born in Australia. The next most common country of birth was England at 4.5%.
* 82.6% of people were born in Australia. The next most common country of birth was England at 4.5%.
Line 83: Line 84:
'''Wirrimbirra Sanctuary'''
'''Wirrimbirra Sanctuary'''


Bargo is home to animal reserves like the [[Wirrimbirra Sanctuary]], established by [[Thistle Yolette Harris|Thistle Harris]] in the 1960s, which offers bushland walks on well-maintained walking tracks, flora and fauna awareness programs, a small cafe, and a walk-in animal pen featuring wallabies.
Bargo is home to animal reserves like the [[Wirrimbirra Sanctuary]], established by [[Thistle Yolette Harris|Thistle Harris]] in the 1960s, which offers bushland walks on well-maintained walking tracks, flora and fauna awareness programs, a small café, and a walk-in animal pen featuring wallabies.


'''Mermaid Pools and the Potholes'''
'''Mermaid Pools and the Potholes'''
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'''Storybook Alpacas'''
'''Storybook Alpacas'''


Bargo is home to Storybook Alpacas offering visitors the chance to visit an [[alpaca]] farm with farm visits.<ref>http://www.storybookalpacas.com.au</ref>
Bargo is home to Storybook Alpacas offering visitors the chance to visit an [[alpaca]] farm with farm visits.<ref>{{URL|http://www.storybookalpacas.com.au|Storybook Alpacas}}</ref><!-- Promotional ? remove ? -->

'''Australian Wildlife Sanctuary'''

Located on Remembrance driveway the wildlife sanctuary (temporarily closed) is home to a variety of native animals including wombats, wallabies, pademelons, quokkas, potoroos, bettongs, lizards, pythons, turtles, emu, parrots, black swans and others.


==Organisations==
==Organisations==
'''Wollondilly AFL Club'''
'''Wollondilly AFL Club'''


Australian Football was established in Bargo in 1982 at the Bargo Sportsground. Firstly with the Wollondilly Junior Australian Football Club - The Cygnets with teams from U9's - U15's competing in the Greater West Sydney Competition. Then followed in 1989 Wollondilly Senior Australian Football Club - The Knights fielding First Grade and Reserve teams in the South Coast AFL Competition. In 2014 Wollondilly Senior Australian Football Club moved into the Sydney AFL Competition, competing in Division 4. Both Junior & Senior clubs now play home games at Hannaford Oval, Wilton. The only truly Australian game of football and the only AFL Clubs in the Wollondilly Shire.
Australian Football was established in Bargo in 1982 at the Bargo Sportsground. Firstly with the Wollondilly Junior Australian Football Club The Cygnets with teams from U9's U15's competing in the Greater West Sydney Competition. Then followed in 1989 Wollondilly Senior Australian Football Club The Knights fielding First Grade and Reserve teams in the South Coast AFL Competition. In 2014 Wollondilly Senior Australian Football Club moved into the Sydney AFL Competition, competing in Division 4. Both Junior & Senior clubs now play home games at Hannaford Oval, Wilton.


'''Yerrinbool-Bargo Bushrangers'''
'''Yerrinbool-Bargo Bushrangers'''


Bargo is home to the '''Yerrinbool-Bargo Bushrangers''' football team. The team was established by a group of men in the Pub one night, the Bushrangers now have teams from Under 6 to All Age Men & Women competing in the Highlands Competition. Notably, the Yerrinbool-Bargo coalition soccer team is one of the only local soccer teams where two places of different regions and councils form a coalition; [[Yerrinbool, New South Wales|Yerrinbool]] is of the [[Southern Highlands, New South Wales|Southern Highlands]] and [[Wingecarribee Shire]] whilst Bargo is part of the [[Wollondilly Shire]] and [[Macarthur, New South Wales|Macarthur]] Region.
Bargo is home to the '''Yerrinbool-Bargo Bushrangers''' football team. The team was established by a group of men in the Pub one night, the Bushrangers now have teams from Under 6 to All Age Men & Women competing in the Highlands Competition. Notably, the Yerrinbool-Bargo coalition soccer team is one of the only local soccer teams where two places of different regions and councils form a coalition; [[Yerrinbool, New South Wales|Yerrinbool]] is of the [[Southern Highlands, New South Wales|Southern Highlands]] and [[Wingecarribee Shire]] while Bargo is part of the [[Wollondilly Shire]] and [[Macarthur, New South Wales|Macarthur]] Region.


'''Bargo Rural Fire Brigade'''
'''Bargo Rural Fire Brigade'''
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'''Bargo Yanderra Tennis Association ''' has recently upgraded facilities with new court surfaces and is currently running an interclub competition between Thirlmere tennis club and Bargo. Ladies social competition are usually run on a Tuesday during school terms.
'''Bargo Yanderra Tennis Association ''' has recently upgraded facilities with new court surfaces and is currently running an interclub competition between Thirlmere tennis club and Bargo. Ladies social competition are usually run on a Tuesday during school terms.

==Food and shops==
*IGA
*Hector's Takeaway
*Bargo Bakery
*BWS Bargo
*Friendly Grocer
*MFC Bargo
*Charcoal Chickens
*Bargo Butchers
*Post Office
*Newsagent
*Chemist
*Hairdressers
*Pub
*Bargo Motors Used Car Dealership, RMS Authorized Inspection station & mechanical repair centre
*BP Petrol station
*The Local Italian Restaurant
*Bimbo's Roadhouse (Bargo Pie Shop)


==In popular culture==
==In popular culture==
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==External links==
==External links==
{{commons category}}
{{commons category}}
* [http://www.bargo.rfsa.org.au Bargo Volunteer Rural Fire Brigade]
* [http://www.bargo.rfsa.org.au Bargo Volunteer Rural Fire Brigade] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220611135242/https://bargo.rfsa.org.au/ |date=11 June 2022 }}
* [http://www.storybookalpacas.com.au Storybook Alpacas, Bargo]
* [http://www.storybookalpacas.com.au Storybook Alpacas, Bargo]



Latest revision as of 08:54, 15 June 2024

Bargo
New South Wales
Bargo is located in New South Wales
Bargo
Bargo
Coordinates34°17′27″S 150°34′47″E / 34.290955°S 150.579701°E / -34.290955; 150.579701
Population4,393 (2016 census)[1]
Postcode(s)2574
Elevation338 m (1,109 ft)
Location
LGA(s)Wollondilly Shire
RegionMacarthur
State electorate(s)Wollondilly
Federal division(s)Hume
Localities around Bargo:
Couridjah Tahmoor
Bargo Pheasants Nest
Yanderra Upper Nepean Catchment Area

Bargo is a town in the Macarthur Region of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia, in the Wollondilly Shire. It is located approximately halfway between Campbelltown and Bowral, about 100 km south west of the Sydney CBD.

It is situated between the township of Tahmoor (north) and the village of Yanderra (south), and accessible via the Hume Highway that links Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne. It was previously known as West Bargo and Cobargo.

History

[edit]
Bargo township, on Remembrance Drive

The name Bargo may be derived from the local Aboriginal language name Barago, meaning cripple, thick scrub, or brushwood.[2] The earliest reference to Barago was noted as by George Caley in a letter to Sir Joseph Banks on 25 September 1807. The Aboriginal people, called the Bargo area Narregarang, meaning that the soil was not firm – a shaky place.[3][4] Caley's Aboriginal guide Mowatiin referred to the area's name as meaning "place of cliffs" or "thick shrubs".[5]

Early explorers and convicts found getting through the Bargo area a difficult experience due to the thick scrub, explorers dubbing the tricky bush the "Bargo Brush". In early colonial times, Bargo Brush became notorious among travellers for harbouring convicts who had escaped from captivity and become bushrangers.[6]

Bayley quotes William Riley, who passed through Bargo Brush on horseback in 1830:[3]

"... a miserable, barren scrub, thickly wooded for eight miles; there having been so much rain lately this abominable part of the road was a continuation of bogs for eight miles." Soon the Brush, with its thickets for hideouts, became the lurking place for robbers and caused travel to become fraught with peril. The Sydney Gazette of 17 March 1832 reported the road as ". . . one uninterrupted morass"!

J. H. Heaton, under the heading 'Crimes and Criminals, Remarkable' lists "Desperate conflict between four police and eleven prisoners at Bargo Brush, N.S.W. Constable Raymond shot dead by a prisoner named James Crookwell, 15 April 1866."[7]

Bargo is noted as being where the first recorded sightings of the lyrebird, koala and wombat took place by European settlers. Bargo is also near the site of an infamous massacre in 1816, when settlers forced local Aborigines to walk off a big cliff and shot them if they refused.[8] Bargo Police Station, now abandoned, is currently used as a doctors' surgery. The lock-ups remain behind the building. The patrol area of the Bargo Police Station included Pheasants Nest, Bargo, parts of Tahmoor and Yanderra.

Facilities

[edit]
Bargo station

Bargo railway station was first opened on 19 July 1919 as West Bargo and then renamed in 1921 as Bargo.[9] The station is part of the Main South Line and is served by NSW TrainLink's Southern Highlands Line. The original Bargo railway station building on the eastern side of the platform was destroyed by arson. Currently in use is a permanent demountable building.

Bargo's community facilities include a racetrack, tennis courts, sporting fields and skate park. Its commercial facilities include a hotel, motel, post office, a sports club, two small grocery stores, chemist, bakery, butcher, newsagent, liquor store, restaurants (including bistros at the pub and club), takeaway food, petrol station, pharmacy, car mechanic, two hairdressing salons and several other small businesses, including a used car dealership.

There is also a public toilet in the park.

Heritage listings

[edit]

Bargo has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

Location

[edit]
Bargo aerial photo from north west

The Bargo township border runs from Bargo River Road, south along Bargo River to perpendicular with Tylers Road, along Tylers Road, then south along Silica Road to Remembrance Drive, North along the freeway to perpendicular with and along Dwyers to north along Arina Road and back to Bargo River.

Population

[edit]

According to the 2016 census of population, there were 4,393 people in Bargo.

  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 3.4% of the population.
  • 82.6% of people were born in Australia. The next most common country of birth was England at 4.5%.
  • 89.2% of people only spoke English at home.
  • The most common responses for religion were Anglican 28.9%, Catholic 28.0% and No Religion 22.6%.[1]

Attractions and local business

[edit]

Nepean and Avon Dams

Natural attractions like the Avon and Nepean Dams are popular destinations for family picnics and for viewing local and Illawarra water catchments and bushland.

Wirrimbirra Sanctuary

Bargo is home to animal reserves like the Wirrimbirra Sanctuary, established by Thistle Harris in the 1960s, which offers bushland walks on well-maintained walking tracks, flora and fauna awareness programs, a small café, and a walk-in animal pen featuring wallabies.

Mermaid Pools and the Potholes

Mermaid Pools and the Potholes are located on the Bargo River and are open to the public for swimming.

Historically, Mermaid Pools was a local sacred aboriginal site for women. It is believed to be protected by spirits. In addition, the Potholes, which are located near Mermaid Pools, have been a local communal gathering point for summer swimming since early European settlers and continue to be an attraction for local residents. The Bargo Brush is a rare shrub found only in abundance in the Bargo area and commonly found around Mermaid Pools.

Storybook Alpacas

Bargo is home to Storybook Alpacas offering visitors the chance to visit an alpaca farm with farm visits.[13]

Australian Wildlife Sanctuary

Located on Remembrance driveway the wildlife sanctuary (temporarily closed) is home to a variety of native animals including wombats, wallabies, pademelons, quokkas, potoroos, bettongs, lizards, pythons, turtles, emu, parrots, black swans and others.

Organisations

[edit]

Wollondilly AFL Club

Australian Football was established in Bargo in 1982 at the Bargo Sportsground. Firstly with the Wollondilly Junior Australian Football Club – The Cygnets with teams from U9's – U15's competing in the Greater West Sydney Competition. Then followed in 1989 Wollondilly Senior Australian Football Club – The Knights fielding First Grade and Reserve teams in the South Coast AFL Competition. In 2014 Wollondilly Senior Australian Football Club moved into the Sydney AFL Competition, competing in Division 4. Both Junior & Senior clubs now play home games at Hannaford Oval, Wilton.

Yerrinbool-Bargo Bushrangers

Bargo is home to the Yerrinbool-Bargo Bushrangers football team. The team was established by a group of men in the Pub one night, the Bushrangers now have teams from Under 6 to All Age Men & Women competing in the Highlands Competition. Notably, the Yerrinbool-Bargo coalition soccer team is one of the only local soccer teams where two places of different regions and councils form a coalition; Yerrinbool is of the Southern Highlands and Wingecarribee Shire while Bargo is part of the Wollondilly Shire and Macarthur Region.

Bargo Rural Fire Brigade

Bargo Rural Fire Brigade was established 1939. From its humble beginnings, the brigade's few handtools and drum of water have been constantly upgraded to its present-day Pumper, Heavy Tanker and Light Tankers, housed in the purpose-built Village Two category building on the outskirts of the township. The brigade's services include fighting structure fires and bush fires in the local area and attending vehicle accidents on the Hume Highway where passes through Wilton, Pheasants Nest and Yanderra. Bargo Fire Brigade assists with out-of-area disasters, for example, the 1994 Sydney Bushfires, the Sydney Hail Storm of 1999, the bushfires of the Christmas period 2001/2002, and 2007 Gosford storm damage.

The Brigade celebrated its 70th year of operation on 26 December 2009.

Bargo Yanderra Tennis Association has recently upgraded facilities with new court surfaces and is currently running an interclub competition between Thirlmere tennis club and Bargo. Ladies social competition are usually run on a Tuesday during school terms.

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W. A. Bayley observed:[3]

"The whole road was a nightmare with its succession of bogs where bullock waggons sank to their axles. Drivers cut saplings to corduroy sections of the road and threw stones into bogholes. Teams on unbogged waggons were attached to teams on bogged vehicles to help pull them free; sometimes only to see them sink again! A waggon could take a couple of days from Bargo River to Mittagong, camping the night anywhere around Yerrinbool, then called Little Forest, before the steep climb of Catherine Hill which would then be attacked with fresh bullocks in the morning... The Sydney Morning Herald of 2 June 1865 reported that it had not been uncommon to see all the types of vehicles 'stuck fast or rather half buried in the numerous sloughs ... filled with mud .'

A verse of the Australian folk song Stringybark and Greenhide (circa 1865) celebrates the bad reputation among bullock drivers of the Bargo roads:[14]

"If you travel on the road, and chance to stick in Bargo,
To avoid a bad capsize, you must unload your cargo;
For to pull a dray about, I do not see the force on,
Take a bit of greenhide, and hook another horse on."

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Bargo". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 13 July 2017. Edit this at Wikidata
  2. ^ Reed, A. W (1973). Australian Place Names. Artarmon: Reed. ISBN 0-589-07115-7.
  3. ^ a b c Bayley, W. A (1973). Picton-Mittagong Loop-Line Railway. Bulli: Austrail. pp. 8–11. ISBN 978-0-909597-14-6.
  4. ^ "Bargo". Geographical Names Register (GNR) of NSW. Geographical Names Board of New South Wales. Retrieved 10 June 2009. Edit this at Wikidata
  5. ^ "Bargo, Pheasants Nest & Yanderra". Visit Wollondilly. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  6. ^ Appleton, R & B (1992). The Cambridge Dictionary of Australian Places. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-39506-2.
  7. ^ Heaton, J. H. (1879). Australian Dictionary of Dates and Men of the Time: containing the history of Australia from 1542 to May 1879. Sydney: George Robertson.
  8. ^ Fowler, Verlie. "Massacre at Appin in 1816". Campbelltown Stories. Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society Inc. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
  9. ^ NSWrail.net | Bargo Station
  10. ^ "Nepean Dam". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H01368. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
  11. ^ "Wirrimbirra Sanctuary". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H01508. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
  12. ^ "Bargo Railway Viaduct". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H01024. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
  13. ^ Storybook Alpacas
  14. ^ Edwards, Ron (1991). Great Australian Folk Songs. Willoughby: Ure Smith. p. 354. ISBN 0-7254-0861-8.
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