Junee, New South Wales

Junee is a medium-sized town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The town's prosperity and mixed services economy is based on a combination of agriculture, rail transport, light industry and government services, and in particular correctional services. In 2015 Junee's urban population was 6,230.Place nameOne theory is that word Junee which originates from the Aboriginal word 'Jewnee' means "speak to me". Another theory is that it is an Aboriginal word "Choo-nee" meaning "frog".HistoryThe Wiradjuri people are the traditional owners of the local area prior to European settlement. Leopold de Salis (1816-1898), pastoralist and later politician was one of the first squatters to open up the Riverina region to grazing. He established the 'Jewnee' pastoral run in 1845. Leopold held the licence for this run for a total of three years. Other run licencees followed until Thomas Hammond and Richard Gwynne bought the licence in 1857. The Jewnee run progressively reduced in area as selectors took up land but Hammond lived on it until his death in 1899, the remaining property having been named "Wyoming" in 1887. A post office opened in 1862 and a village called 'Jewnee' was gazetted in 1863 on the wool road to Sydney. That same year, Ben Hall and his bushranging gang raided the village.In 1866 Jewnee's population was recorded as twelve but the discovery of reef and alluvial gold during the 1860s triggered a gold rush. The main sites- Junee Reefs (to the north), was mined on and off until after World War 1, as well as Wantiool and Eurongilly (to the east) until the 1880's.