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Tingha, New South Wales facts for kids

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Tingha
New South Wales
Tingha.JPG
Tingha entry sign
Tingha is located in New South Wales
Tingha
Tingha
Location in New South Wales
Population 833 (2016 census)
Established 1885
Postcode(s) 2369
Elevation 780 m (2,559 ft)
Location 30 km (19 mi) from Inverell
LGA(s) Inverell Shire
County Hardinge
Federal Division(s) New England
Tingha (2)
Swimming hole, Tingha
Tingha (1)
Main street, Tingha

Tingha is a small town on the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia in Inverell Shire. Formerly part of Armidale Region, on 1 July 2019, responsibility for Tingha was transferred from Armidale Regional Council to Inverell Shire Council. The town is 30 kilometres (19 mi) south of Inverell and 629 kilometres (391 mi) north-north-east of Sydney. Tingha is an Aboriginal word for "flat or level".

History

Before non indigenous settlement the area now known as Tingha was mainly lived upon by people from the Nucoorilma group, which is an associated group of the Murri Aboriginal people. Many of their descendants still live in the surrounding area.

Tingha was first settled in 1841 by Sydney Hudson Darby and became a mining town after tin was discovered there in the 1870s. Within a year Australia’s first commercial tin mines were operating at a private settlement known as Armidale Crossing. Over 6,000 people arrived and more than 25% of the miners were Chinese. The Wing Hing Long Museum is a reminder of that heritage. Armidale Crossing Post Office opened on 1 September 1872 and was renamed Tingha the next month.

The village was proclaimed a town in 1885. Initially there were enough readily accessible surface deposits to make a good living without using machinery as Chinese people did. The first school was established by the Sisters of St. Joseph in 1890. In the 1890s drought came to the district and the easily obtained deposits of tin were exhausted leading to a loss in population.

By the early 1900s the mining boom was over and Tingha's population had dwindled to just a few hundred people. Shortly after this, large companies moved into the area to mine the less accessible tin.

Today

The main industry nowadays is agriculture with some fossicking in the area. Tin dredging and mining has continued on a scale that varies according to international price fluctuations.

Tingha has a hospital, pre-school, caravan park, sports and recreation club, a first aid post, hotels plus other shops and services to supply daily needs. Tingha's "swimming hole" is a large man made pool which was once a mining excavation. One of the main attractions around Tingha is "Green Valley Farm" Entertainment Park.

Notable people

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