Woopi was settled back in the 1870’s and prior to that the Gumbaynggirr Aboriginal people had this place all to themselves, with excellent fishing, cropping in the fertile soil and there were plenty of local animals to hunt. They pronounced the area Wiilgulga, which described a Black Apple tree ( some reports say it was the local Lilly Pilly fruit tho ) but after white man settled and created a village the name was soon changed to what we have today.
By 1883 people saw the value of all the timber in the hills and soon timber cutters moved in to clear hills and settle. Bush sawmills were established, timber tramlines ran from the beach all the way into the hinterland to transport the heavy logs to awaiting ships. With this a huge ( nearly 500 metre ) jetty was built to accomodate the ships to carry the timber away and to bring goods back to Woopi. Originally a shorter jetty was built by an early settler named William Pullen, but needing a longer one the government stepped in and extended it. Over the years bashing from the ships and storm damage soon made it unsafe. Sadly in the 1960’s the jetty was deemed dangerous and it was blown up and dismantled. The infamous Buster ( a local ship wreck icon ) was moored here back in 1893 when a huge storm broke the ropes and all of the 198 tonnes of Buster floated ashore where it now lays.
In the bush these days there is very little left of any sign of the in infrastructure these pioneers established. You might find the odd timber loading ramp and a 4wd track named after a bush hero but n nothing else. The rail has been pulled up, the huge pulleys that ran cable up the now Creek Road is gone along side the B.A.T. ( British Australian Timber Co ) railway, and there is nothing around the beautiful town to acknowledge any history. Tucked down behind the local art centre is the only piece of the puzzle left, and its slowly decaying away. A rail trolley with a piece of timber on is the only survivor of the time.
When the men logged the area gold was also found in vast locations. One of the main mines was located right where the Sea View Tavern is today, top in the bush there are still shafts and drives and a section called Nuggety Gully where there was a small community.
Back in the 1940’s the local community held horse races on main beach, aeroplanes often landed and tied up to the jetty and around town there was a sugar mill. Banana’s soon took over the landscape and at the turn of the century Sikh’s were migrating to town, where today Woolgoolga has the largest regional of the Sikh/Punjabi population in Australia. Today where the bowling club is, was once the largest hardwood company outside of Sydney owned by the Great Northern Mill they were so large they owned their own tramlines up into the forest. The first post office was built around 1892 inside a general store but by 1898 a dedicated PO was built and after it was moved 3 times, the PO finally found a home where it is now in the original Woopi plaza. Another building that was lost in time was the Woolgoolga Theatre that was built next door to the tavern up in River Street, sadly this building was never saved.
Today Woolgoolga is known for its natural beauty in the bush where there are plenty of 4wd trails leading you to stunning views across the area, there are waterfalls that fall into stunning rainforest areas and Woopi is now known as the whale watching capital of our coast due to how close the whales come to the headland. A small consolation for the area is a heritage walking trail around town allows you to explore and discover a few of the local icon buildings down town. So why not grab a coffee and have a wander around the area, and don’t forget to head to the Woolgoolga Art gallery and see the very last timber trolley left in the area. It will be a sad day when this gets scrapped.
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