Kentucky, New South Wales

Kentucky is a village in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. The village is situated about 17km to the south of Uralla and 35km to the north west of Walcha and approximately 7km off the New England Highway. Kentucky is located 540km by rail from Sydney in Sandon County on the Northern Tablelands. The village is at an altitude of about 1066 m and is within Uralla Shire. At the 2006 census, Kentucky and the surrounding area had a population of 311.HistoryOn 25 May 1870 Alexander Binning Walker, a rural lock-up keeper, chased, confronted and killed the infamous bushranger Fred Ward, alias Captain Thunderbolt, at Kentucky Creek, Uralla.The Kentucky railway station, on the Main North Line, was opened on 2 August 1882. It was closed many years ago, though daily Sydney/Armidale trains still pass through the village.The area was a former soldier settlement region with many orchards and other agricultural properties. The development of the Kentucky Returned Soldiers Settlement along the railway between Kentucky and Wollun commenced in July 1918. This settlement covered 7319acre, mostly of a light sandy granite type soil. The area was divided into eighty holdings of 40 to 250acre each depending on the location of the farm. The total orchard area which was planted with apples, pears, prunes, plums and cherries was 1200acre.