{{Use dmy dates |date=October 2019}} {{Use Australian English |date=March 2012}} {{short description|Village in New South Wales, Australia}} {{Infobox Australian place | type = town | name = Hermidale | state = nsw | image = Hermidale Hotel 003.JPG | caption = Hermidale Hotel, 2017 | coordinates = {{coord|31|31|52.4|S|146|39|55.3|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | pushpin_label_position = right |local_map=yes|zoom=8| pushpin_map_caption = Location in New South Wales | lga = Bogan Shire | county = Canbelego | parish = Hermitage | region = Orana | postcode = 2831 | pop = 127 | pop_year = {{CensusAU|2021}} | pop_footnotes = <ref name="census">{{Census 2021 AUS | id = SAL11901| name = Hermidale| quick = on | accessdate = 4 November 2022}}</ref> | stategov = Barwon | fedgov = Parkes | dist1 = 46 | dir1 = W | location1 = Nyngan | dist2 = 600 | dir2 = W | location2 = Sydney | dist3 = 87 | dir3 = E | location3 = Cobar | near-n = | near-ne = | near-e = | near-se = | near-s = | near-sw = | near-w = | near-nw = }} '''Hermidale''' is a village in the Orana region of New South Wales, Australia.<ref name="GNR">{{cite web |url=https://proposals.gnb.nsw.gov.au/public/geonames/66283d70-2ee9-48ab-9b8b-4d41b7b08927|publisher=Geographical Names Board|title=Hermidale|access-date=10 October 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/5813905|publisher =OpenStreetMap|title=Hermidale|access-date=10 October 2020}}</ref> It is 600km north-west of Sydney and the two closest towns are Nyngan (46 km to the east) and Cobar (87 km to the west). It lies on the Barrier Highway. At the 2021 Census, the population of Hermidale was 127.<ref name="census" />
The area now known as Hermidale is part of the traditional lands of Wangaaypuwan dialect speakers (also known as Wangaibon) of Ngiyampaa people. After settler colonisation, the site of Hermidale lay partly within the County of Canbelego (Parish of Hermitage) and partly within the County of Flinders (Parish of Boree).<ref name=":0" />
The area was originally known to settlers as Hermitage Plains but postal authorities substituted the name Hermidale, in 1892,<ref>{{Cite news|date=1892-04-30|title=Index page|pages=xiii|work=New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 - 1900)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article222042955|access-date=2020-10-08}}</ref> initially leading to some confusion with distant Armidale.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1892-08-30|title=Advertising|pages=6|work=Australian Star (Sydney, NSW : 1887 - 1909)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article227299013|access-date=2020-10-08}}</ref> What would become the village site lay astride the route of the Cobar railway line and a station was opened there in 1892.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Hermidale Station|url=https://www.nswrail.net/locations/show.php?name=NSW:Hermidale|access-date=2020-10-08|website=www.nswrail.net}}</ref> The village of Hermidale was proclaimed on 18 July 1896.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Village of Hermidale and suburban lands [cartographic material] : Land District of Nyngan|url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-232820083|access-date=2020-10-08|website=Trove|language=en}}</ref> Sales of land took place in mid-1897.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1897-06-09|title=LAND SETTLEMENT.|pages=6|work=Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article238385940|access-date=2020-10-08}}</ref> The public school opened in 1901.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Hermidale|url=https://nswgovschoolhistory.cese.nsw.gov.au/schoolHistory?schoolId=3872|access-date=2020-12-19|website=nswgovschoolhistory.cese.nsw.gov.au}}</ref>
There were many mines near Hermidale,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Hermidale, Canbelego Co., New South Wales, Australia|url=https://www.mindat.org/loc-146474.html|access-date=2020-10-08|website=www.mindat.org}}</ref> the most important of which was the Budgery Copper Mine (north-west of the village).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Budgery Copper Mine, Hermidale, Canbelego Co., New South Wales, Australia|url=https://www.mindat.org/loc-295685.html|access-date=2020-10-08|website=www.mindat.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1894-11-28|title=MINING INTELLIGENCE.|pages=3|work=Australian Star (Sydney, NSW : 1887 - 1909)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article227490831|access-date=2020-10-08}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1906-10-03|title=THE MINER.|pages=38|work=Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1907)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71541382|access-date=2020-10-19}}</ref> There were also some small gold mines in the far west of the modern-day locality, around Muriel Tank.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Muriel, Bogan, NSW, Australia |url=https://www.mindat.org/feature-2156154.html |website=Mindat}}</ref> Hermidale was initially the rail connection location for the mines at Nymagee but the opening of the Budgery Copper Mine brought some prosperity to the village from around 1906.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1906-09-22|title=HERMIDALE TOWNSHIP.|pages=4|work=Cobar Herald (NSW : 1899 - 1914)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article118683820|access-date=2020-10-08}}</ref> In 1923, mining became uneconomic due to low copper prices and the Budgery Mining Co. went into liquidation. By 1924, all levels of the mine were flooded; the mine water contained dissolved copper salts and copper was extracted from it.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1923-05-12|title=Advertising|pages=22|work=Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16053016|access-date=2020-10-08}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1924-08-08|title=MINING AT HERMIDALE.|pages=4|work=Dubbo Dispatch and Wellington Independent (NSW : 1887 - 1932)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article228365596|access-date=2020-10-08}}</ref> There was also a village of Budgery—planned in 1908<ref>{{Cite web|title=Map of the village of Budgery and suburban lands [cartographic material] : parish of Hermitage, county of Canbelego, land district of Nyngan, Bogan Shire N.S.W. 1908 / compiled, drawn and printed at the Department of Lands.|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/163507327|access-date=2020-10-08|website=trove.nla.gov.au|language=en}}</ref>—but its design was cancelled in 1927,<ref>{{Cite news|date=1927-10-21|title=PROPOSED CANCELLATION OF DESIGN OF THE VILLAGE OF BUDGERY.|pages=5015|work=Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 2001)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article219955264|access-date=2020-10-08}}</ref> leaving Hermidale as the established community in the area.
In 1913, Hermidale was the location of the murder of Mary Jane Greentree.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1913-09-12 |title=CIRCUIT COURT. A CHARGE OF MURDER. SOME STARTLING EVIDENCE. DEATH SENTENCE PRONOUNCED. |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article226988035 |access-date=2024-01-26 |work=Dubbo Dispatch and Wellington Independent |pages=1}}</ref>
Unlike other former mining villages in the region, such as the ghost towns of Bobadah and Canbelego, Hermidale has considerable passing traffic, bringing potential customers to the village, due to its location on the Barrier Highway. The village retains a sports ground, tennis courts, post office, public school<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Home - Hermidale Public School|url=https://hermidale-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/|access-date=2020-10-08|website=hermidale-p.schools.nsw.gov.au|language=en-AU}}</ref> and one hotel, and it has a small cemetery.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Australian Cemeteries Index - Cemetery 47 - Hermidale|url=https://austcemindex.com/cemetery.php?id=47|access-date=2020-10-09|website=austcemindex.com}}</ref>
In 2018, it was announced that Hermidale is the site of a new multi-user rail siding that will accommodate trains up to 1,200 metres long. It will enable trains to be loaded more efficiently, while other trains pass on the rail line. The new siding will result in 33,000 tonnes of freight each year being switched from road transport to rail.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|date=2018-07-29|title=Major road, rail initiatives delivered at Hermidale|url=https://www.roadsonline.com.au/major-road-rail-initiatives-delivered-at-hermidale/|access-date=2021-03-05|website=Roads & Infrastructure Magazine|language=en-US}}</ref>
==Reference section== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{commonscat-inline}} {{Bogan Shire}}
Category:Towns in New South Wales Category:Mining towns in New South Wales Category:Bogan Shire