Jugiong

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Jugiong is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, on the Murrumbidgee River near Jugiong Creek. It sits off the Hume Highway, about 30 km southwest of Bookham and 40 km northeast of Gundagai. The name comes from the Wiradjuri language, meaning something like “valley of the crows.” The Wiradjuri people lived in the area long before European settlers arrived in the 1820s.

A public house existed at the future town site before 1844. The town site was reserved in 1853, and the Jugiong Post Office opened in 1856. A bridge over Jugiong Creek was opened by 1859. Jugiong has had a school since 1883. John Sheehan funded much of the Catholic church, St John the Evangelist, built between 1858 and 1860; an Anglican church, Christ Church, followed in 1895 and is now privately owned.

The town sits in a bend of the Murrumbidgee River, with Jugiong Creek joining nearby. The area has a history of floods, especially in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1852, John Sheehan saved 33 people from flooding and was awarded a silver tankard. The Burrinjuck Dam enlargement in 1957 helped reduce flood risks. Jugiong Creek can flash flood, and the first bridge over the creek was destroyed in 1870 and replaced in 1872. A severe storm damaged many buildings in 1898. Because of flood risk and not being on the railway, Jugiong stayed small.

From 1933, water from the river has been pumped to dams in the Cowang Hills to supply towns such as Cootamundra and beyond. South of Jugiong there is a large river gravel quarry; to the north is a construction aggregate quarry that is now a regional landfill. The Hume Highway now bypasses the town, making Jugiong a quiet stop for travelers. There is a memorial to Sergeant Edmund Parry, who was killed by bushranger John Gilbert in 1864, located between Jugiong and Gundagai. Australian cricketer and commentator Richie Benaud spent part of his early life there. The population was 222 at the 2016 census and 255 at the 2021 census.