Jerrawa
Jerrawa (/dʒɛrəwə/) is a locality in the Upper Lachlan Shire, New South Wales, Australia. It lies on the north side of the Hume Highway about 30 km to the east of Yass and was served by Jerrawa railway station on the Main Southern line between Sydney and Melbourne between 1876 and 1975. At the 2016 census, it had a population of 73.
| Jerrawa New South Wales | |||||||||||||||
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Community hall and Anglican church at Jerrawa. | |||||||||||||||
Jerrawa Location in New South Wales | |||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 34°46′46″S 149°04′27″E | ||||||||||||||
| Population | 73 (2016 census) | ||||||||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 2582 | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation | 594 m (1,949 ft) | ||||||||||||||
| Location |
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| LGA(s) | Upper Lachlan Shire | ||||||||||||||
| Region | Southern Tablelands | ||||||||||||||
| County | King | ||||||||||||||
| Parish | Jerrawa | ||||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Goulburn | ||||||||||||||
| Federal division(s) | Hume | ||||||||||||||
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The area now known as Jerrawa lies on the traditional lands of the Gandangara or the Ngunnawal peoples. These two groups spoke a closely related, if not identical, language. The name Jerrawa is said to be a settler rendering of an aboriginal language word for 'iguana', probably referring to the goanna.
The railway station and siding were situated at a location where the railway line gradient was flat, after rising from the bridge over Jerrawa Creek and then rising again to the west. A small settlement, including an Anglican church (Christ Church), a hall, and a school, developed on the southern side of the railway line, near the railway station. Some of the houses in the settlement were for railway employees. It seems that the settlement was never proclaimed as a village.
The school operated from 1877 to 1963. Jerrawa had a store that also served as its post office. There was no Methodist church at Jerrawa but its inhabitants used the isolated Greendale church and cemetery, which was already in existence from 1862 and predated the settlement at Jerrawa.
In August 1938, Jerrawa was in the path of a violent whirlwind that left a trail of damage a mile and a half long and 500 yards wide, damaging some of the settlement's buildings, in less than a minute.
The presence of an iron ore deposit at Jerrawa had been known since around 1879. During the Second World War, with a shortage of coastal shipping, local sources or iron ore were mined to feed the steelworks at Port Kembla. One of these wartime ore mines was at Jerrawa.
Jerrawa's hall is falling into disrepair. Jerrawa has a showground and holds an annual agricultural show, around Easter time, referred to as 'the Little Easter Show.' The old store still exists but is now a private residence. All that remains of the old railway station is its sign, which has been re-erected beside the railway line.