Tenterfield

Tenterfield is a town in New South Wales, Australia. It is located in the New England region at the intersection of the New England and Bruxner Highway's. Tenterfield is a three-hour drive from Brisbane, Queensland, three hours from Byron Bay, New South Wales, two hours from Armidale, New South Wales and eight hours from Sydney. The town is situated on the north-western part of the Northern Tableland plateau, nestled in a valley, astride the Great Dividing Range and beneath the imposing Mount MacKenzie (1,287m elevation). At the, Tenterfield had a population of 6,986.Tenterfield's proximity to many regional centres and its position on the route between Sydney and Brisbane led to its development as a centre for the promotion of the federation of the Australian colonies.HistoryTenterfield’s first inhabitants were the Jukembal people who travelled the area from near Glen Innes to Stanthorpe, Queensland.In 1841, Sir Stuart Donaldson was running 18,000 sheep on a property that he named Tenterfield Station, after a family home in Scotland. Donaldson was the first premier of NSW and made biannual trips to Tenterfield to inspect his holdings there, which covered 100000acre of unfenced land. Tenterfield Post Office opened on 1 January 1849 and the township was gazetted in 1851 with allotments being sold in 1854. In 1858 gold was discovered at Drake (Fairfield) and shortly afterwards at Timbarra and Boonoo Boonoo. During 1859 an AJS Bank opened and an Anglican church was built the following year. In the 1860s the Tenterfield Chronicle was published, the district court was established; the building of a hospital commenced and a public school was opened. In 1870 the population was less than 900, but the town had five hotels, a school of arts and three churches. The existing Tenterfield Post Office was constructed in 1881.