Tallong, New South Wales

Tallong is a village within the Southern Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia, in Goulburn-Mulwaree Council. The village is located just outside the southern extremity of the Southern Highlands region and has some cultural and historic connections with this region also. In the, the village had a population of 813. The town is 8.5 km from the town of Marulan and 25 km from the town of Bundanoon.The principal industries of the village include stud farms, arts and crafts and services for surrounding farms.Tallong is home to the Tallong Midge Orchid (Genoplesium plumosum), a tiny flower found only in the area surrounding the town. This orchid is now a protected species. It was discovered in 1997.EtymologyThe original settlement was named Barber's Creek after the watercourse that runs through the town. In the early twentieth century the town was renamed "Tallong" after an Aboriginal word meaning either "tongue" or "spring of water".HistoryColonial eraThe first European settler in the area was George Barber, a cattle farmer. In 1814 Barber established a cattle station along what became known as Barber's Creek. In 1821 he received a grant of 300acre covering the general Tallong-Marulan district, to be converted from cedar brush to farmland. Before his death in a riding accident in 1844, Barber had extended his local landholdings to 4000acre, which he named "Glenrock". He is buried in the Old Marulan Cemetery in Marulan.