History

The Dunghutti people lived in this region for about 6000 years and in the colder months returned to the east, where fish and animals were plentiful. The tablelands had places for ceremonies and trade of goods and there are traces of bora grounds near Walcha.

Walcha was the first area to be discovered in the New England region. It was on the route taken by the explorer John Oxley and reached on
8 September 1818. He named the Apsley River after the Secretary of State for the colonies, Lord Apsley.

Walcha’s first settler, Hamilton Collins Sempill, arrived in 1832 from Belltrees in the Hunter River district. Sempill based his headquarters near the campsite used by John Oxley and he named the area Walcha (“Wolka”). No one has conclusive evidence of the meaning of “Wolka” but three Aboriginal meanings are “Sun”, “Deep Water” and “Water”.

Further settlers moved into the district over the years 1834 to 1858 when David William Jamieson formed the nucleus of the Walcha township by erecting various industrial structures such as a flour mill, store, smithy, etc.

In the 1850s and 1860s early squatters were able to purchase their runs, and selectors struggled on their small holdings. The town had its first school and churches established in these years. The population grew in the 1870s with small gold rushes at Glen Morrison, Tia and Nowendoc.

There was an attempt after disastrous floods in the 1860s to move the town up the hill to the west; a former bank, hotel and shops stand witness to this attempt.

By 1900 the town had almost a thousand people with another 1600 people in the surrounding district. In Walcha, there were 4 hotels, 4 blacksmiths, 2 flour mills and a tannery as well as over thirty shops.

The Municipality of Walcha was proclaimed on 12 March 1889; the adjacent Shire of Apsley was proclaimed on 7 March 1906. On 1 June 1955 the Shire of Walcha was constituted by the amalgamation of the Municipality of Walcha and the Shire of Apsley. From 1 July 1993 the Walcha Shire Council became known as the “Walcha Council” due to the new Local Government Act being introduced.