Gol Gol, New South Wales

Gol Gol is a small town in the far western region of New South Wales, Australia in the Wentworth Shire. It is situated on the banks of the Murray River, in the Sunraysia region. Increasingly, Gol Gol operates as a suburb of Mildura, being only 6km from this regional centre. In the ten years to 2006 the population of Gol Gol increased from 619 to 663, an average annual increase of 0.71%.HistoryOn 17 March 1836, the surveyor Thomas Livingston Mitchell set out on an expedition from Boree Station (west of Orange) with 25 men, 2 boats, a train of bullock carts and a herd of at least 100 cattle, which were to be used for food when wild animals were scarce.On his arrival at the site of the future village the local Aboriginals informed Mitchell that the area next to the Murray River was called Gol Gol (meaning meeting place). Mitchell generally used Aboriginal names when marking his maps as he felt that a map was more useful if settlers could ask the local inhabitants for help. When Mitchell returned to his base camp on the 4 June 1836 he passed on the name of Gol Gol to his superiors.Township developmentIn 1865 a survey was initiated to determine the site for the township of Gol Gol and was completed in February 1866. The area proclaimed as the site for the township of Gol Gol was notified on 15 June 1886 in the Government Gazette 95384acre for the township. Although Government sales began in March 1871 it was almost a decade before allotments in the village were occupied. A Post Office was opened in 1877 and closed in 1879. Subsequently, a Post Office existed from 1885 to 1887, 1902 to 1919, then from 1927 until the present.