Wauchope, New South Wales

Wauchope
New South Wales
Wauchope; New South Wales
Population	4,759
Established	1836
Postcode(s)	2446
Elevation	20 m (66 ft)
Location	19 km (12 mi) from Port Macquarie
LGA(s)	Port Macquarie-Hastings Council
State electorate(s)	Oxley
Federal division(s)	Lyne

Wauchope (pronounced "War-hope") is a town in the Australian state of New South Wales, in Port Macquarie-Hastings Council. It is 19 km (12 miles) inland on the Hastings River west of Port Macquarie. The town is 406 km north of the state capital Sydney.

Wauchope is the location of Timbertown, a popular heritage theme park based around the logging industry that formed the basis for Wauchope's early economy and prosperity. The town has a population of approximately 4,000 (as of 2005). It has also played an important role in the Hastings Valley dairy market.

History

By 1828 a number of land grants had been made along the Hastings River. It was not until 1836 that the village of Wauchope first came into existence. In that year Captain Robert Andrew Wauch (whose father dropped the 'ope' from the end of his name as a result of a family dispute) paid a deposit on 760 acres on King Creek. He bought more property and built Wauch House.

Robert Wauch died in the Macleay area in 1866, and the Government Gazette published the deeds of his properties, specifying that they should be called Wauchope. When the post office opened in a nearby settlement in 1881, it was named Wauchope, although the Government Gazette misprinted the name Wanghope, an error that was not corrected until 1889.

Industry and Economy

Wauchope was founded based on the timber industry. This is giving way to farming and other more modern industries.

Toursim is an important part of the local economy. an attraction of note close to Wauchope is Timbertown

Layout

The township is set out along the southern bank of the Hastings River with the back drop of Bago Mountain further south.

The main street is High Street (a small section of the Oxley Highway), running generally westward through the town after coming east from Port Macquarie and across the North Coast railway line. The main street includes the local Co-op general store (previously Parkers) and a number of smaller businesses and local banks. At the corner of Hastings Street is the local Post Office. Further up the main street is the town clock, a legacy of the days the town was the centre of local government. Back along Hastings Street is the local Co-op supermarket as well as the local court house.

The main cross street is Cameron Street. The Hastings Hotel is on the south-east corner of Cameron and High and the Star Hotel is a short distance north. The RSL club is another 100 metres north. Cameron Street leads to the Hastings River. A wharf was built at the northern end of Cameron Street for shipping produce downstream to Port Macquarie, but this no longer exists.

To the south of the main shopping area is the Wauchope Golf Course and Country Club, which occupies a premium site within the middle of the town. Further west is Timbertown, on the edge of large tracts of forestry land leading into the Bago Mountain area.

To the east of the main shopping area is the railway line from Sydney. The local dairy and milk factory is located close to the point where the railway line crosses the Hastings River.