About Cobargo- History

Cobargo was the Junction as the township first began to develop in the late 1860s at the junction of the Narira and Bredbatoura Creeks. The free settlers who had established themselves in the district were the Salways, Clugstones, Cullens, Motbeys, Wilsons, Allens,Gillespies, Nelsons as well as the Tarlintons. In 1870 an application for a public school was made, with residents promising to send 37 children to the proposed school. The school began operating in February 1871 with John OReilly as teacher. The township had a post office, store, school, hotel, church and blacksmith shops and several bushman huts. Dairy started in the 1870s with the butter being shipped to Sydney from Bermagui in kegs. Alex, the fourth son of W.D. Tarlinton, had a dairy and cheese making premises and made and sold butter and cheese before any factory existed in the Cobargo district.The Butter factory and Co-Operative were established in 1901; however, the factory was gutted by fire in 1926 and rebuilt later that year. By 1975 it was the only specialist butter factory in NSW and continued its butter production until November 1980 when it closed because of decreased cream supply, due to bulk milk production.

The 1880s proved to be a time of civic and community activity, with W.D. Tarlinton being instrument in funding, chairing meetings and invariably the President of Societies. The first traffic bridge over the Narira Creek was opened by W.D. Tarlinton and named Cobargo Bridge in 1882. On May 30^th 1885 a meeting was held to form the first Agricultural Society and W.D. Tarlinton was called to occupy the chair.Land was cleared, a pavilion, rings and pens were erected and the first Cobargo show was held the 3^rd and 4^th of April 1889. In 1887 the School of Arts was constructed by local builder George Martin and had a good library of books, periodicals, magazines and newspapers. Today it is used by community groups and for functions.

W.D. Tarlinton died 17th October 1893 and was greatly mourned by the community. His grave is clearly marked in the cemetery and he and his wife have memorial windows in the Catholic Church as this site the new church and presbytery was a free gift from W.D. Tarlinton. The foundation stone was laid in 1896 and the church opened in 1898.A branch of the Australian Joint Stock Bank Ltd opened in April 1882 and closed in 1897. The Bank of NSW opened a branch April 1903 and the bank was built in 1917 and closed as the Westpac bank in 1997. This building which was built using the plans for the Cooma bank now houses Kinetix, a sports and leisurewear factory and shop outlet.Ben Hall's wife Bridget Taylor died 9th July 1923 aged 85 and was buried in the Catholic portion of the Cobargo Cemetery, however it is not marked. In 1862 she left Ben for a policeman James Taylor, often surmised as the reason Ben became a bushranger.

The present Post Office was built in 1890. When the telephone exchange opened in 1910, the postmaster was also responsible for line repair work in the area. The Post Office played a very significant role for many locals as they were born there. From 1918, the Postmasters wife Mrs. Merrion, conducted a maternity home in the residence.The stationary engine, which is situated in the grounds of the Cobargo Hotel-Motel, once had the job of running a complete saw mill at Dignams Creek. Lee Payne had the job of feeding it with the off-cuts and waste timber from 1948 -1960, when it was replaced with a diesel engine. The saw mill employed 11 men and closed in 1965.Today Cobargo is still a rural community with a village atmosphere which provides an ideal stop for travelers. The picnic area and park on the corner of Bermagui road and Princes Hwy is on the bank of the Narira Creek and provides an ideal spot for a break.