Tumbarumba

Locals refer to the town as 'Tumba'. To the south and east, the highest peak of the Snowy Mountains and mainland Australia—Mount Kosciuszko—can be seen.

• Type — town • Name — Tumbarumba • State — nsw • Pop — 1862 • Established — 1850s • Postcode — 2653 • Elevation — 645 • Dist1 — 480 • Dir1 — SW • Location1 — Sydney • Dist2 — 477 • Dir2 — NE • Location2 — Melbourne • Dist3 — 114 • Dir3 — SE • Location3 — Wagga Wagga • Dist4 — 137 • Dir4 — ENE • Location4 — Albury • Dist5 — 65 • Dir5 — SSW • Location5 — Tumut • Lga — Snowy Valleys Council • County — Selwyn • Stategov — Albury • Fedgov — Riverina • Maxtemp — 19.8 • Mintemp — 5.6 • Rainfall — 979.0 Tumbarumba is a town in New South Wales, Australia, about 480 km southwest of the state capital, Sydney. Tumbarumba is located in the South West Slopes region at the western edge of the Snowy Mountains. The showed the population of the town and surrounding area to be 1,862 people. Locals refer to the town as 'Tumba'. To the south and east, the highest peak of the Snowy Mountains and mainland Australia—Mount Kosciuszko—can be seen.

The Aboriginal history of the region is contentious. According to the map developed by Tindale, the area that is now Tumbarumba lay at the boundary of the lands of the Wiradjuri and Walgalu peoples. Since the Wiradjuri word for the 'Walgalu' was Guramal, meaning 'hostile men', presumably there was little in common between these peoples, who spoke different languages. The Walgulu spoke the same Ngarigo language as the more easterly Ngarigo people of the Monaro region, and in more recent times these groups have been considered by some to be just one people, the Ngarigo, whose lands included Tumbarumba. There are different views on the origin on the word 'tumbarumba' and whether it derives from the Wirajuri or Ngarigo language. Tumbarumba and surrounds now lie within the Brungle/Tumut Aboriginal Land Council Area. The settler community was established in the late 1850s after gold was discovered in the district. The Post Office opened on 1 August 1860 but was spelt Tumberumba until 1915. A railway branch line was opened to Tumbarumba in 1921. The Tumbarumba railway line ran from Wagga Wagga through Tarcutta. The service ceased in September 1974 and the line has since been officially closed. The 21 km final section of the line between Rosewood and Tumbarumba opened as the first rail trail in NSW in April 2020. Gold mining petered out in the 1930s, and the region's economy now depends on agriculture and tourism. The timber industry dominates the Shire's economy. The name Tumbarumba may be derived from the sound of thunder. or alternatively from the Aboriginal words for "hollow sounding ground", "thunder", "sound" or "place of big trees".

The major industry in the town is softwood timber processing, with the Hyne and Sons Timber Mill to the west of the town being the biggest employer. Other industries include tourism, viticulture (Tumbarumba is in the Tumbarumba wine region), and blueberry growing. Tourism is a source of income due to its proximity to the snow fields.

Tumbarumba has a temperate oceanic climate (Cfb), with a great seasonal range in maximum temperatures and a pronounced winter rainfall peak. Frosts are frequent throughout much of the year. Snow is fairly common, generally falling on about two days per annum, though is usually light due to the town's valley location. The lowest recorded temperature was -9.4 C on 13 July 1970, and the lowest maximum temperature was 1.1 C on 15 July 1966. The town gets 109.2 clear days annually, with the grand majority in summer and early autumn. The winters are often cloudy and damp. Rainfall records commenced at Tumbarumba Post Office in 1885, however temperature records (both averages and extremes) didn't commence until 1965. Another site approximately 25 km to the north-west of Tumbarumba operated from 1938 to 1997, at the Carabost Forest Headquarters. There is a remarkable warming trend to be observed between the two sites; particularly in the winter months, where Tumbarumba Post Office averages 10.8 C in July maxima, compared to just 9.1 C at Carabost. This site was at a somewhat lower altitude than Tumbarumba Post Office: a deficit of 65 m.

The Tumbarumba Greens field rugby league teams in the Murray Cup competition. The club is notable for having a full team of Goldspinks playing in the 1960s. The club formerly competed in the Group 13 Rugby League and Group 9 Rugby League competitions before joining their current league. The Tumbarumba Kangaroos Australian rules football club, founded in 1969, competes in the Victorian-based Upper Murray Football League.

• Jack Blomley – Rugby union Wallabies player • Jack Loes – Australian rules footballer • John Williams – scientist

• Illustration — Aerial view from the southeast • Illustration — Tumbarumba District Roll of Honour • Illustration — Tumbarumba Memorial Hall • Illustration — Post office • Illustration — Court house