Tooraweenah is a village in the Australian state of New South Wales . It is located in a valley on the western side of the Warrumbungles mountain range, between the towns of Gilgandra in the southwest and Coonabarabran in the northeast, and belongs to the administrative region of Gilgandra Shire . There are currently around 230 people living in Tooraweenah and the surrounding area.
history
In 1837 a 16,000 acre area was taken over by squatter Andrew Brown. In 1841 the first shop opened and a small village began to grow. The Land Settlement Act of 1861 further encouraged settlement in the area. A school opened in 1884, followed by a hotel in 1886.
In 1916, 23 men set out from Tooraweenah on a march into the city of Bathurst , the oldest inland settlement in Australia, to recruit men for military service in the First World War . Today a memorial commemorates this march known as the Kookaburra March .
In 1931, after flying direct from London to Australia , Cecil Arthur Butler landed his plane near Tooraweenah. Butler returned in 1938 and started an airmail and passenger service linking Charleville with Sydney , with stations in Cunnamulla , Bourke , Coonamble and Tooraweenah.
