Taralga HistoryPrint Page

The town`s history recorded on plaque on Wombeyan marble was erected as a bicentenary project in 1988. 

The first European to pass through Taralga was the explorer Charles Throsby who, in 1819 journeyed from Cowpastures (now Camden) to Bathurst in search of new grazing lands. John Macarthur rewarded Throsby with 1 000 acres and by 1824 Macarthur's son James and his nephew Hannibal had established themselves in the Taralga region where they helped pioneer Australia's wool industry.

A private village was established on land donated by James Macarthur and cleared by convicts in order to house and service members of the Macarthur family and their employees. The settlement began to expand in the 1850s. A national school was opened in 1857 and the first church in 1861. Many of the town's sandstone and basalt buildings emerged over the next 20 years. Stores and inns began to appear and, by 1866, the town had 110 residents, 24 dwellings, three hotels and three churches with a fourth added in 1868.
 

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