Tambo Crossing, Victoria
Encyclopedia
Tambo Crossing is a locality and small farming community in the Shire of East Gippsland in Victoria
, Australia
. It is alongside the Tambo River
on the Great Alpine Road
, 57.5 kilometres (35.7 mi) north-east of Bairnsdale, surrounded by state forest
. At the 2006 census
, Tambo Crossing had a nominal population.
nation. The Aborigines called the place Neoyang or Noyang, meaning conger eel
.
The first Europeans known to pass through Tambo Crossing was the party of Walter Mitchell in April 1839, following an existing Aboriginal travel route to the mountains
. The name Tambo Crossing was probably given by the party led by Angus McMillan
in January 1840; the name is descriptive, as it is the location where the route (now the Great Alpine Road) formerly crossed the Tambo River. This name is somewhat archaic, as the Great Alpine Road no longer crosses the Tambo River at Tambo Crossing, now travelling west of the river until Ensay
.
and Omeo
.
A hotel was established at Tambo Crossing on the east side of the river in this period, first being officially licensed in 1849 with the name of The Tambo Inn. In 1854 Duncan McDougall took over the inn, as well as establishing a store at the same location. As an indication of the Scottish
background of many of the early settlers in the region, the hotel was renamed the Sir Walter Scott
Hotel in the late 1860s. In 1890 a new hotel was built on the western side of the river beside the newly aligned road between Bruthen
and Ensay, but kept the "Sir Walter Scott" name. The hotel burnt down on 8 September 1961 and was not rebuilt. The current information board is on the site of the former hotel, with the Great Alpine Road also passing over part of the site.
In 1850 16000 acre (6,475 ha) of land around Tambo Crossing was developed as grazing
country. It was licensed for 4,000 sheep, and was called the Neoyang Run in reference to the Aboriginal name for Tambo Crossing. Later, as well as the hotel and store, the settlement was large enough to have the small State school No. 3160, and a cheese
factory
. The school closed in 1971, and was amalgamated with Ensay Primary School. The school building doubled as the public hall
, and still stands about 300 m (328.1 yd) west of the information board.
During the later part of the 19th century the area was part of the Victorian gold rush
es. Significant finds were made at Stirling, 16 km (9.9 mi) northwest, with a smaller alluvial field at Shady Creek, 10 km (6.2 mi) west. In the early 1880s noted geologist
and naturalist
Alfred William Howitt
mapped the area, with his paper, The Rocks of Noyang, being read to the Royal Society of Victoria
in 1883.
ation, Tambo Crossing lost its importance as a stopping point along the highway, a problem exacerbated with the loss of the Sir Walter Scott Hotel in 1961. Additionally, improved technology led to bigger farms, and therefore fewer residents in the area. Tambo Crossing today therefore contains some prime agricultural land
for livestock
, however consists of only a few individual properties and a small number of residents.
The centre of the settlement in present times contains the information board and a commemorative plaque
on the site of the former hotel. The former school building is now in private ownership. The original crossing of the Tambo River, in historical times a ford
, is now a low-level bridge
on a minor dirt side road
, about 500 metres (546.8 yd) to the southeast of the information board. The folk art sculpture Mr. Stringy
is located about 8 km (5 mi) north of Tambo Crossing alongside the Great Alpine Road.
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. It is alongside the Tambo River
Tambo River (Victoria)
The Tambo River is a river in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia with a total length in excess of 170 km. It is the longest river in the Tambo and Nicholson Basin, extending from the steep forested southern slopes of the Australian Alps through forest and farmland to the Gippsland...
on the Great Alpine Road
Great Alpine Road
The Great Alpine Road is a country tourist road in Victoria, Australia, running from Wangaratta in the north to Bairnsdale in the east, and passing through the Australian Alps...
, 57.5 kilometres (35.7 mi) north-east of Bairnsdale, surrounded by state forest
State forest
A state forest is a forest that is administered or protected by some agency of a sovereign state.The precise application of the term varies by jurisdiction...
. At the 2006 census
Census in Australia
The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...
, Tambo Crossing had a nominal population.
History
Prior to European settlement, Tambo Crossing was part of the region occupied by the Brabuwooloong people of the GunaiGunai
The Gunai or Kurnai is an Indigenous Australian nation of south-east Australia whose territory occupied most of present-day Gippsland and much of the southern slopes of the Victorian Alps. The nation was not on friendly terms with the neighbouring Wurundjeri and Bunurong nations...
nation. The Aborigines called the place Neoyang or Noyang, meaning conger eel
Speckled longfin eel
The speckled longfin eel, Australian long-finned eel or marbled eel, Anguilla reinhardtii, is one of 15 species of eel in the family Anguillidae. It has a long snake-like cylindrical body with its dorsal, tail and anal fins joined to form one long fin. It usually has a brownish green or olive green...
.
The first Europeans known to pass through Tambo Crossing was the party of Walter Mitchell in April 1839, following an existing Aboriginal travel route to the mountains
Australian Alps
The Australian Alps are the highest mountain ranges of mainland Australia. They are located in southeastern Australia and straddle the Australian Capital Territory, south-eastern New South Wales and eastern Victoria...
. The name Tambo Crossing was probably given by the party led by Angus McMillan
Angus McMillan
Angus McMillan , was an explorer and pioneer pastoralist in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. He is also known for being an instigator of many of the massacres against the Aboriginal peoples in the Gippsland region.-Early life:...
in January 1840; the name is descriptive, as it is the location where the route (now the Great Alpine Road) formerly crossed the Tambo River. This name is somewhat archaic, as the Great Alpine Road no longer crosses the Tambo River at Tambo Crossing, now travelling west of the river until Ensay
Ensay, Victoria
Ensay is a small town located between Swifts Creek and Bruthen on the Great Alpine Road in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Ensay is north of the major town of Bairnsdale and east of the state capital Melbourne...
.
European settlement
During the 1840s, as the area developed and traffic on the route increased, Tambo Crossing became a regular stopping point at almost exactly halfway between BairnsdaleBairnsdale, Victoria
Bairnsdale is a small city in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. With a population at the 2006 census of 11,282, it is a major regional centre of eastern Victoria along with Traralgon and Sale....
and Omeo
Omeo, Victoria
Omeo is a town in Victoria, Australia, located on the Great Alpine Road, east of Mount Hotham, in the Shire of East Gippsland. At the 2006 census, Omeo had a population of 452. The name is derived from the Aboriginal word for 'mountains' or 'hills'...
.
A hotel was established at Tambo Crossing on the east side of the river in this period, first being officially licensed in 1849 with the name of The Tambo Inn. In 1854 Duncan McDougall took over the inn, as well as establishing a store at the same location. As an indication of the Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
background of many of the early settlers in the region, the hotel was renamed the Sir Walter Scott
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet, popular throughout much of the world during his time....
Hotel in the late 1860s. In 1890 a new hotel was built on the western side of the river beside the newly aligned road between Bruthen
Bruthen, Victoria
Bruthen is a small town located alongside the Tambo River between Bairnsdale and Ensay on the Great Alpine Road in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. At the 2006 census, Bruthen had a population of 624...
and Ensay, but kept the "Sir Walter Scott" name. The hotel burnt down on 8 September 1961 and was not rebuilt. The current information board is on the site of the former hotel, with the Great Alpine Road also passing over part of the site.
In 1850 16000 acre (6,475 ha) of land around Tambo Crossing was developed as grazing
Grazing
Grazing generally describes a type of feeding, in which a herbivore feeds on plants , and also on other multicellular autotrophs...
country. It was licensed for 4,000 sheep, and was called the Neoyang Run in reference to the Aboriginal name for Tambo Crossing. Later, as well as the hotel and store, the settlement was large enough to have the small State school No. 3160, and a cheese
Cheese
Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....
factory
Factory
A factory or manufacturing plant is an industrial building where laborers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another. Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production...
. The school closed in 1971, and was amalgamated with Ensay Primary School. The school building doubled as the public hall
Public Auditorium
Public Auditorium is located in the central business district of downtown Cleveland, Ohio. Since it was opened in 1922, it has served as a concert hall, sports arena and convention center. Although it was planned and funded prior to World War I, construction did not begin until 1920. Designed by...
, and still stands about 300 m (328.1 yd) west of the information board.
During the later part of the 19th century the area was part of the Victorian gold rush
Victorian gold rush
The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. In 10 years the Australian population nearly tripled.- Overview :During this era Victoria dominated the world's gold output...
es. Significant finds were made at Stirling, 16 km (9.9 mi) northwest, with a smaller alluvial field at Shady Creek, 10 km (6.2 mi) west. In the early 1880s noted geologist
Geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...
and naturalist
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
Alfred William Howitt
Alfred William Howitt
Alfred William Howitt was an Australian anthropologist and naturalist.-Background:Howitt was born in Nottingham, England, the son of authors William Howitt and Mary Botham. He came to the Victorian gold fields in 1852 with his father and brother to visit his uncle, Godfrey Howitt...
mapped the area, with his paper, The Rocks of Noyang, being read to the Royal Society of Victoria
Royal Society of Victoria
The Royal Society of Victoria is the oldest learned society in the state of Victoria in Australia.The Royal Society of Victoria was formed in 1859 from a merger between The Philosophical Society of Victoria and The Victorian Institute for the Advancement of Science , both founded...
in 1883.
Present day
With the improved road and means of transportTransport
Transport or transportation is the movement of people, cattle, animals and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations...
ation, Tambo Crossing lost its importance as a stopping point along the highway, a problem exacerbated with the loss of the Sir Walter Scott Hotel in 1961. Additionally, improved technology led to bigger farms, and therefore fewer residents in the area. Tambo Crossing today therefore contains some prime agricultural land
Agricultural land
Agricultural land denotes the land suitable for agricultural production, both crops and livestock. It is one of the main resources in agriculture...
for livestock
Livestock
Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...
, however consists of only a few individual properties and a small number of residents.
The centre of the settlement in present times contains the information board and a commemorative plaque
Commemorative plaque
A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other vertical surface, and bearing text in memory of an important figure or event...
on the site of the former hotel. The former school building is now in private ownership. The original crossing of the Tambo River, in historical times a ford
Ford (crossing)
A ford is a shallow place with good footing where a river or stream may be crossed by wading or in a vehicle. A ford is mostly a natural phenomenon, in contrast to a low water crossing, which is an artificial bridge that allows crossing a river or stream when water is low.The names of many towns...
, is now a low-level bridge
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...
on a minor dirt side road
Side road
A side road is a minor highway typically leading off a main road. A side road may be so minor as to be uncategorized with a road number.In an urban area, a side road may be a narrow street leading off a more major street, especially in a residential area....
, about 500 metres (546.8 yd) to the southeast of the information board. The folk art sculpture Mr. Stringy
Mr. Stringy
Mr. Stringy, also known as The Wooden Man or just The Man, is a folk art project and tourist attraction on the Great Alpine Road in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Mr. Stringy is a sculpture in a human form, originally carved from a stringybark stump, which is regularly repainted into...
is located about 8 km (5 mi) north of Tambo Crossing alongside the Great Alpine Road.