(Original spelling Bukka–Bri)
Pronunciation: Bog–a–bry
Kamilaroi meaning: Place of Many Creeks
Population: 1,100
Altitude: 251m
Boggabri is located on the Kamilaroi Highway 55km southeast of Narrabri and is a historic small country town with big community spirit offering a unique country lifestyle. With a rich agricultural history and several coal mines the town is set for further expansion. The town boasts a 9 hole golf course and RSL Club. A modern motel, caravan park (with cabins) and a hotel provide accommodation in the town while fuel and motor repairs are also available.
Boggabri’s central business area has been located in three different streets over the years, creating an interesting mix of architecture that can be explored by foot along the Boggabri Heritage Trail. This trail unearths the varied history behind 31 local sites. More local history can also be discovered at the Boggabri Historical Museum. Learn about how agriculture practises have changed over time at the Boggabri Tractor Shed, which houses an extensive range of vintage tractors and machinery.
Gins Leap on the Kamilaroi Highway between Boggabri and Narrabri also has an interesting history as a stopover hotel between 1854 and 1867, and as the site where two Aboriginal lovers leapt to their deaths to escape a promised betrothal and tribesmen. A historic grave site marks the spot, and a picnic area and interpretive sign are provided.
Fast Fact
After the original town was washed away in flood waters in the 1850s, Boggabri was moved to its present day location some 20km to the North West.
History of Boggabri
Before settlement, the area was home to notorious English criminal George ‘the Barber’ Clarke, a convicted armed robber sentenced to farm work near Singleton in 1825. Clarke escaped, painted his skin dark, took two Aboriginal wives and wandered the northwest stealing cattle before the authorities caught and hanged him in 1831. The convict frequented Barbers Lagoon and Barbers Pinnacle, both east of Boggabri.
Clarke’s creative tales of a navigable river, known as the Kindur, flowing into a vast inland sea prompted Sir Thomas Mitchell to lead an expedition into north west NSW in 1831. Although he never found the Kindur, he discovered the region’s fertile plains. Boggabri was then proclaimed a town in 1860. The town came into its own when the railway opened in 1882.
