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Echuca-Moama: Scar Trees, Paddlesteamers and Hertiage Buildings

Echuca & Moama are twin towns on the Murray River, about 206 km north of Melbourne, Australia. Echuca is in Victoria, and Moama, Echuca's twin town, is across the border in New South Wales.

The name Echuca, which is Aboriginal, means the "meeting of the waters", as the area is close to the junction of the Goulburn, Campaspe, and Murray Rivers. Moama means "burial ground".
 

The Yorta Yorta People ( Pangerang)

Echuca and Moama are part of the traditional lands of the Yorta Yorta people.

The site of the current Echuca library and Campaspe Shire offices were once the meeting place for Aboriginal people and corroborees.

Scar trees, used by Aboriginal people to make canoes, can still be seen around Echuca today.
The scar on this tree was created when Aboriginal people removed bark to make canoes, shields, food and water containers, string, baby carriers and other items.
An important totem of the Yorta Yorta People is the Broad-shelled Turtle (Chelodina expansa), which features in many creation stories, in the role of provider, guide and protector.

Aboriginal people had fish traps in Barmah Lake.

One creation story told about the formation of the Murray River is told by the Yorta Yorta people:

"Baiame created the river by sending his woman down from the alps with her yam stick and two dogs. As she walked and the dogs followed, she made a line with her stick. Baiame then sent his giant snake to follow behind her.  The snake walked along the line that the old woman had made in the sand, making the curves of the river bed with his body. Baiame then sent the rain which filled up the river. The old woman walked down to the mouth of the river and fell asleep in a cave. If you listen and hear the sea, that is the old woman singing in her sleep."

The Aboriginal people of the Murray River area moved about with the seasons and made shelters at their summer and winter camps.
A mia-mia, circa 1910
Aboriginal people of the Murray River region often wore possums cloaks in the colder months and an apron-like garment at other times. Necklaces made with teeth or other materials were worn, too. Cloaks were also used by women as slings for carrying babies. And designs made on the inside of the cloak revealed the relationship to country.
Aboriginal kinship usually has three levels: Moiety, Totem and Skin Names. People within the same moiety are considered siblings, meaning they are forbidden to marry. A man of the kangaroo moiety could not marry a woman in the same kangaroo group. Some men were allowed multiple wives.

1830s

Charles Sturt named the Murray River in 1830.

In the late 1830s, settlers and pastoralists seeking grazing land travelled along the Murray and Campaspe Rivers.

In 1838, the First overlanders Hawdon and Bonney, conducted the first cattle drive from New South Wales to Adelaide. They passed near present-day Radcliffe St, and their descriptions of the land and Aboriginal inhabitants of Echuca are some of the earliest.
Charles Bonney (31 October 1813 – 15 March 1897) was a pioneer and politician in Australia
Soon afterwards, Charles Sturt began his Murray River expedition, noticing with horror that many of Aboriginal people he encountered were pitted with small-pox scars. Aboriginal people having no immunity to diseases endemic in agricultural animals.

1840s

James Maiden, who arrived in the region in 1840, living and working at one of the pastoral stations, saw a lot of potential in the area. Especially with the large herds of sheep and cattle that were being moved overland to wool markets in Melbourne. 

Maiden built a punt, which he transported back to an area of the Murray that became known as Maiden's Punt. Maiden built the Junction Inn 1846, obtaining a licence in 1847. In the following few years, the inn was enlarged to become a grand two-storey building.
The Junction Inn, Moama, VIC, built 1846
Large herds of sheep and cattle were soon being moved overland to wool markets in Melbourne and Maiden and his wife at Moama were doing very well with their ferry and inn. 

The large volume of traffic using the ferry and the inn, as well as cattle sales, helped make Maiden a rich man. He also became the owner of Perricoota station, where he had worked and a settlement began to develop around the river crossing, where his inn and punt were situated. 

A mail service to "Maiden's Punt" began in 1846, when John Maiden was punt owner, innkeeper, postmaster and cattle dealer. 

In 1851 Maiden's Punt became known officially as Moama.

By 1854, Moama had the largest cattle market outside Melbourne. 
FROM BATHURST TO BENDIGO IN 1854. Western Champion (Parkes, NSW : 1898 - 1934)
Then the cattle market crashed and Maiden's fortunes began to decline. He sold his property at Moama in 1861 and moved away.

Henry Hopwood

The town of Echuca was kick-started by a resourceful man named Henry Hopwood, who arrived in the Murray district in 1849. 

1850s

Seeing the successful punt business operated by John Maiden, Hopwood tried to set up a punt business in competition, but he was "chased out" of NSW in 1852.

Across the river in Victoria, Hopwood saw the potential of Echuca and noticed that the increasing numbers of drovers and farmers were in need of facilities.

Hopwood established a pub and in 1858, he also purchased the punt service from James Maiden, his business rival. 
Hopwood's Ferry showing Hopwood standing with umbrella in the middle, Riverine Herald (Echuca, Vic. : Moama, NSW : 1869 - 1954; 1998 - 2002), Friday 1 July 1938
Hopwood was largely responsible for Echuca growing into a small town.

In 1854 "Hopwoods ferry" was surveyed and named Echuca, with the first land sales held in April. 

The Criterion Hotel, was built by Hopwood out of "of iron and bits and pieces" where the Echuca Club now stands.

In January 1855, Hopwood was the postmaster, and in the next year he opened a butchery, bakery and boiling-down works and a large iron store.

Hopwood's pontoon bridge spanned the Murray In 1856, and in 1857, he had a bridge over the Campaspe River.
Hopwood's floating pontoon bridge at Echuca with his ferry; the Echuca wharf is in the distance. The nearest vessel is Hopwood's punt and the second vessel is Hopwoods pontoon bridge
After this, Hopwood built a brick store, set about getting a school for the town, set up two blacksmiths, a doctor and a bakery, planted a vineyard, published a newsletter and opened the Bridge Hotel in 1859 to service coach traffic from Melbourne.
Bridge Hotel, Echuca, VIC, built 1859. Riverine Herald (Echuca, Vic. : Moama, NSW : 1869 - 1954; 1998 - 2002), Friday 1 July 1938

1850s: Paddle Steamers

In 1851 Maiden's Punt became known officially as Moama.[

The Governor of South Australia,  Sir Henry Fox Young, offered a prize of £2000, in 1851, to the first person to travel up the Murray River to its junction with the Darling River (now the town of Wentworth) in a paddle steamer.

In 1853, William Randell, who had no nautical background at all, his father was a flour miller, built the Mary Ann. He seemed to be the only contender to travel up the Murray in his steamer, until he was overtaken near Swan Hill by the Lady Augusta, skippered by Francis Cadell. While neither steamer actually met the conditions for the Governor’s prize, both received the money for their efforts.
Capt. Francis Cadell, Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931) Francis Cadell's Lady Augusta steamboat became engaged in a race with William Randell's Mary Ann up the River Murray in 1853
 William Randell, Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954). Francis Cadell's Lady Augusta steamboat became engaged in a race with William Randell's Mary Ann up the River Murray in 1853
Captain Cadell's steamer the Lady Augusta, Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 6 April 1912

1860s: Hopwood's House

Henry Hopwood's, Apsley House, Connely St. Echuca by G. H. Kendall, active 1866-1889, photographer, State Library of Victoria. Echuca, [at different times called the Bridge, Wharf and Hopwood Hotel, High St.]
Hopwood's house, at 21-31 Dickson Street, was built in 1866. He died there in 1869 and it became a boarding house, before being purchased by the Brigidine order in 1886 for 1000 pounds. The Sisters of St. Brigid arrived in Echuca in 1886 from Tullow, Co. Carlow, Ireland.

"Mr Hopwood
was an exceptionally big man and the
bath built for him was in keeping with
his size."
Riverine Herald (Echuca, Vic. : Moama, NSW : 1869 - 1954; 1998 - 2002), Friday 1 July 1938

Henry Hopwood died from typhoid fever on 1 January 1869, at his home.
Henry Hopwood, 1813 - 1869.  Born in Bolton, Lancashire, England

A Town Laid Out

By 1863, just ten years after the first voyage by a paddle steamer on the Murray River, there were over 200 people working on the river. There were also around 60 hotels in the town of Echuca, providing plenty of opportunities to buy a beer.  

The Railway Arrives

The railway reached Echuca in 1864. The station building was expanded in 1877, and the iron footbridge was added in 1880.

A traveller passing through Moama in mid-1865 described the township: "Here are erected a few straggling houses of wood or brick".

Echuca began to develop into a major river port, especially after the Echuca Wharf was constructed. Building of the wharf commenced in 1864 and was completed in 1867. Developing as an important link in the trade and transport network, Echuca became an important centre for wool transport by paddlesteamer and rail to the Melbourne markets. 

However, as the rail network increased, the importance of the paddlesteamers began to decline.

1870s

Urban growth increased in the 1870s.

Redwood Logging

In the 1870s, there were many sawmills in the Echuca area processing the trees felled in the forests surrounding Echuca. The logs were mostly transported using paddle steamers. 

Flooding at Echuca destroyed much of the town in the 1870s. It was later rebuilt.

As more settlers moved into the Echuca region, it became very difficult for Aboriginal people to continue the way of life that they had lived for thousands of years. 

Maloga Mission on the New South Wales side of the Murray River, about 15 miles (24 km) from the township of Moama, was establsihed in 1874. 

Acute redwood deforestation led to the introduction of a Victorian Government tax on redgum in 1877.

The Maloga Mission School started in 1874, located 15 miles from the township of Moama, which is directly across the Murray River from Echuca. The mission was started by Daniel and W. Mathews, with assistance from outside sources

Huts were built, and various Aborignal people made their home there. Others continued to move about the land and returned to the mission from time to time. A school also existed on the property. (read more)
"Winter quarters", Maloga Station, VIC, circa 1883

Chinese Market Gardens

During the 1860s Chinese began to establish market gardens in the Echuca-Moama area.
Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Saturday 2 June 1923
Negative - Woman & Child in Front of A. Siefker, Stationer & Fancy Goods, Echuca, Victoria, circa 1875
Woman & Child in Front of A. Siefker, Stationer & Fancy Goods, Echuca, Victoria, circa 1875

1880s

Cummeragunja Reserve, established between 1883 and 1888, housed mostly Yorta Yorta. 

The reserve was established after 42 Yorta Yorta men living at the Maloga Mission wrote a petition to the Governor of New South Wales, Augustus Loftus, requesting land, as they were tired of the strict religious lifestyle and the authoritarian style at the mission on which they lived. 
Echuca Police Force in the 1880s, Riverine Herald (Echuca, Vic. : Moama, NSW : 1869 - 1954; 1998 - 2002), Friday 1 July 1938
Street scene Echuca / G. H. Kendall active 1866-1889 State Library of Victoria
E. Homan's General Store Echuca by G. H. Kendall, active 1866-1889, photographer. State Libray of Victoria
Matthew Bros. Shipchandlers near Echuca by G. H. Kendall, active 1866-1889, photographer. State Libray of Victoria
Negative - Echuca District, Victoria, circa 1887
"Negative - Echuca District, Victoria, circa 1887" is licensed under CC PDM 1.0

Decline

After the railway arrived in Echuca, the town gained importance not only as a port but as a railway junction, for the transportation of goods to Melbourne. But by the 1880s, the ease and speed of the railway caused a decline in the paddle steamer industry.

Many marine vessels were left to rot. Echuca also began to decline in importance with the loss of the river trade.

Freeman's Border Foundry

An engineer named John Trestrail Freeman established Freeman's Border Foundry in Murray Esplanade, Echuca, in 1889, with a partner named Olsen. The business was important to shipbuilding in Echuca, fitting engines, building paddlewheels and carrying out repairs.

1890s

Echuca Wharf with several men standing near a loading crane. Circa 1890. State Library of South Australia
Paddle steamer Adelaide in Echuca area, VIC, circa 1890, SLSA
Glass Negative - Two Horsedrawn Wagons, by A.J. Campbell, Echuca District, Victoria, 1894
Glass Negative - Two Horsedrawn Wagons, by A.J. Campbell, Echuca District, Victoria, 1894
Image of the main street in Echuca, VIC, taken by A.J. Campbell in the 1894. Public Domain
Photograph - Milking Maid, by A.J. Campbell, Echuca, Victoria, circa 1895
Photograph - Milking Maid, by A.J. Campbell, Echuca, Victoria, circa 1895
Aboriginal Australian women and children, Maloga, N.S.W, circa 1890s
EXTRACTS FROM AN ESSAY ON THE ABORIGINES OF  AUSTRALIA. (BY C. BAEYERTZ, M.R.C.S.)
By the kindness of A. C. Macdonald, Esq., F.R.H.R., F.R.G.S., and F. I. Inst.
The facts were chiefly derived by the author from Maloga
Mission station on the Murray River during visits there,
where people from thirty tribes were living. The Yorta-
yorta, and the Yabola dialects were those learned, and
used in talking to the blacks. The traditions, they say,
are handed down from the fathers to the sons. They
name their children from passing events. They will not
reveal their personal names from the fear of sorcery
causing them to lose their Marm-bu-la or kidney .fat.
They acknowledge practising infanticide. When a boy
is about 13 to 14 years old, his head is shaved
leaving only a lock of hair in the middle, and the head is
then covered with clay, and the boy has to keep calling
out incessantly for three days and nights, Tib-but,
tib-bu-ut, and throwing stones and mud all the time in the
camp, and all the blacks run away from him. Then he is
taken into the forest, and blindfolded and left without
food and he has to find his way back, when he is presented
with a waddy , by a leading man of the tribe wherewith
two of his front teeth are knocked out and they are given
to him, and he gives them to his mother, and they are kept
by her as a charm against witchcraft, • and the boy is then
made to undergo many tortures. The girl on reaching
puberty is taken and tied up by her arms to the branch
of a tree, and several very smoky fires are lighted round
her while she hangs on the tree; when she faints, she is cut
down, and allowed to recover. In another tribe the girl
is made to stand undressed on the trunk of a fallen tree
round which tires are made ; she holds the bough of a tree
in her hand with food tied in its forks, the young men of
the tribe come and throw sticks at her, one by one, and
then they take, and eat a small piece of the food from the
bough, and then her mother collects the sticks thrown
at her, and burns them all in the different fires, and lastly
the bough the girl held in her hand. This ceremony
means that these young men must never molest this girl
again ; the second part of this ceremony was to protect her
from witchcraft and to ensure to her a good husband.
These blacks exchanged their sisters to obtain a wife, but
one of these tribes stole women from other tribes for their
wives; they knocked such women on the head with a
waddy , and while senseless the man carried her to his
camp, her relations followed, but were driven back.
Diseases carry off many of these blacks from their not using
proper precautions and remedies. These blacks under a stolid
demeanour are really very emotional. Their traditions re-
late of a great deluge, from which only two or three of
them escaped. They think the Murray River was carved
out by a big snake, and they believe the Magpies (birds)
bring hurricanes and storms. The Native Bear was con-
sulted by these tribes as a guide about their wars, or the
journeys they proposed to make; the Bear is a sacred
animal to the Murray tribes and they never harm it.
The Bunya-bunya tree is sacred to the blacks of Queens-
land, but they eat its seeds. The Murray tribes give
names to the stars, and they hold beliefs upon the relation-
ship of the sun, moon and stars, they believe that Pungel
was the creator of many things, but not of women, they
came out of the Murray River, they were caught there by
a man fishing. They believe that men were made from
bark and clay. 
{After a long and chequered history, the reserve land was handed over to the newly-created Yorta Yorta Local Aboriginal Land Council, on 9 March 1984.}
 Hay cutting with horsedrawn reaper binder - Moama, NSW, 1899

1900s

Cummeragunja School, near Echuca, VIC, no date

Clarion Brewery, Echuca, Vic, Leader (Melbourne, Vic. : 1862 - 1918, 1935), Tuesday 1 January 1901
Wool barges at wharf in Echuca, Victoria - very early 1900s, Aussie~mobs
High Street, Echuca, VIC, in flood, with Commercial Hotel under water, and several men viewing the scene in a small steam launch. About 1906. State Library of South Australia
Hare St. Echuca, VIC, Looking South, circa 1906. Shows elevated view of rooftops and streets, shop signs for Hoadley's, Jeffrey & Hulme and W. Murray, tailor
Echuca Hospital, Vic, circa 1908, SLVIC
Exterior view of R E Beer's timber and iron stores and machinery department - Echuca, VIC, circa 1910, State Library of New South Wales
Meninya St. Moama, NSW, 1911
The paddle steamer Eric on the Murray River at Echuca in Victoria. The Eric was a trading and general cargo steamer and went into service in 1913.

"The paddle steamer Eric on the Murray River at Echuca in Victoria. The Eric was a trading and generalcargo steamer and went into service in 1913." by Aussie~mobs is licensed under CC PDM 1.0

 Punt at Moulamein, proposed terminus of the Moama Railway. Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 30 July 1913
Captain Randell and the boiler that propelled the first steamer on the River Murray, Mount Barker Courier and Onkaparinga and Gumeracha Advertiser (SA : 1880 - 1954), Friday 27 February 1914
ECHUCA.
"ABORIGNAL AXE FOUND.
An intrresting relic of aboriginal
times was discovered on the bank of the
Murray on Friday afternoon, when an
aboriginal axe of a flint like substance
was found. The weapon is about halt a
pound in weight, and the blade is beautifully
tapered for about an inch to a
finely curved edge. The relic had prob-
ably lain where found for close on
century. It is intended to forward it to
the Melbourne Museum."
Ballarat Courier (Vic. : 1869 - 1883; 1914 - 1918), Saturday 27 June 1914

WWI

 PRIVATE W. J. LAWRY, Of Moama.Bendigo Advertiser (Vic. : 1855 - 1918), Wednesday 16 June 1915
Studio portrait of 3572 Private (Pte) Leonard (Len) Sizer, 6th Battalion, of Echuca, Victoria (right) and his cousin, 2945 Pte William (Bill) Sizer, 5th Pioneer Battalion of Boulder, WA.
Leonard (Len) Sizer of the 6th Battalion, of Echuca and his cousin William (Bill) Sizer fought during WWl. Sgt Len Sizer died of wounds received in action on 20 April 1918 and he was buried at Caestre Military Cemetery, France. His cousin Bill, died of wounds received in action on 1 November 1917 and is buried at the Nine Elms British Cemetery, Poperinghe, Belgium.

1920s

"Hare Street, Echuca, Vic.", c1920-1954, SLVIC
HOLDENSON & NIELSEN CREAM WAGGON IN ECHUCA, VICTORIA - JUNE 1924, Aussie Mobs
State School, Echuca, Vic. 1925, Yarra Plenty Regional Library Local History

1930s

The Aborigines Advancement League was established in the 1930s by Yorta Yorta activists.
Moama Railway Station, NSW, 1930
Freeman Brothers foundry at Echuca, a car parked outside the shed, two men standing in the doorway, a two storey stone building far left. circa 1935. State Library of South Australia
Sporting Globe (Melbourne, Vic. : 1922 - 1954), Wednesday 9 December 1936
Sporting Globe (Melbourne, Vic. : 1922 - 1954), Wednesday 9 December 1936
Riverine Herald (Echuca, Vic. : Moama, NSW : 1869 - 1954; 1998 - 2002), Tuesday 7 February 1939
One of the first motor cars in Echuca, Mr W. Ball surgeon-dentist, Riverine Herald (Echuca, Vic. : Moama, NSW : 1869 - 1954; 1998 - 2002), Tuesday 10 October 1939
Cumeroogunga Aboriginal Station on Empire Day, Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954), Thursday 27 July 1939

1940s and WWII

Riverine Herald (Echuca, Vic. : Moama, NSW : 1869 - 1954; 1998 - 2000), Thursday 6 June 1940
Early photo of the Murray Bridge showing one of the first steam trains of the Moama - Deniliqiun. railway coming across it to Echuca. Riverine Herald (Echuca, Vic. : Moama, NSW : 1869 - 1954; 1998 - 2002), Saturday 6 November 1948
Aboriginal women and girls knitting socks, jumpers and balaclavas for the war effort, Cummeragunja Government Mission, NSW, 1941. Back row, left to right: Merle Morgan, June Morgan, Weeny Charles, Amy Briggs, Valda McGee, Edna Walker, Sheila Charles, Joan Charles, Elsie Cooper, Midge Walsh, Florry Walker. Front row, left to right: Joyce Atkinson, Clare Charles, Alma Charles, Ada Cooper, Nelly Davis?, Elizabeth Morgan, Lauraine Charles, Greta Cooper, Violet Charles, Wynnie Walker, Hilda Walker, Georgina Atkinson, Lydia Morgan, Reta Cooper, Maggie Weston. AWM
 BOWLERS AND VISITORS AT SATURDAY'S MOAMA CLUB OPENING, Riverine Herald (Echuca, Vic. : Moama, NSW : 1869 - 1954; 1998 - 2002), Monday 11 October 1948
Missing soldier, M Martain, Moama, NSw, Riverine Herald (Echuca, Vic. : Moama, NSW : 1869 - 1954; 1998 - 2002), Saturday 15 August 1942
ABORIGINAL KNITTERS. — At Cummeragunga Aboriginal Station a band of 32 knitters, including 19 school girls, ranging from 8 — 13 years, have used 1100 skeins of wool in 12 weeks in making comforts for the fighting forces. Residents raised funds to provide needles, and wool wool was supplied by the Australian Comforts Fund (Echuca branch).Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Saturday 28 June 1941
The Australian Government spent £100,000 in 1942, building a ball-bearing factory at Echuca. Ballbearings were used in cars, tanks, trucks, ships, aeroplanes and weapon systems. By June 1945, the factory employed 147 personnel.

Echuca wharf was partly demolished in 1944, and then restored in the 1970s.
Examine finished ballbearings, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Wednesday 31 January 1945
View of the grinding section, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Wednesday 31 January 1945

William Townsend Onus Jr

Born at the Cummeragunja Aboriginal Reserve, William Townsend Onus Jr was of Wiradjuri background on his father's side and Yorta Yorta on his mother's side. He was educated at Thomas Shadrach James' mission school in Cummeragunja and had two years at school in Echuca from age ten.

During his life, Onus worked as a drover, storekeeper, writer, actor, film producer, professional boomerang thrower and footballer. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace and worked for Aboriginal rights. 

Onus had roles in a series of Australian movies including: Uncivilised (1936), Lovers and Luggers (1937) and The Overlanders (1946). He also appeared in the documentary Forgotten People (1967).
William Townsend Onus Jnr (15 November 1906 – 10 January 1968) an Aboriginal Australian political activist, designer, and showman, also known for his boomerang-throwing skills. Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954), Saturday 13 April 1946
 TODAY S PICTURE of Ted Jackson. 21-year-old aboriginal rover' from Echuca, who has been signed to play for the .Melbourne League Football Club. Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954), Thursday 27 March 1947
Children who attended a picnic during the Back to Cumeroogunga Aboriginal Mission Station, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Wednesday 23 June 1948
Back to Cumeroogunga Aboriginal Mission Station, near, Echuca, VIC. !. Jimmy Band, buck jump rider at travelling rodeos from Queensland, was very popular with the Cumeroogunga girls. 2. Smiling children line up for their prizes at the picnic, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Wednesday 23 June 1948
One of the many barges that discharged their cargoes of wool regularly at Echuca. This load contains 1600 bales of wool from Netley Station on the Darling River.Riverine Herald (Echuca, Vic. : Moama, NSW : 1869 - 1954; 1998 - 2002), Saturday 27 November 1948

1950s

Moama Court House, NSW, Dated: No date, Museums of History NSW - State Archives Collection
Elevated view of crowd gathered around as Jim Hickey brings a Cobb & Co. coach to the front of Hopwood's Bridge Hotel. Evan's Brothers Sawmill in left background. Circa 1953, SLVIC

1960s

The trusty Morris Minor 1000 - Echuca 1961
"The trusty Morris Minor 1000 - Echuca 1961" by john cowper is licensed under CC 
Echuca, Hare St, VIC, 1968, no1 Matt W

1970s

Margaret Lilardia Tucker MBE (28 March 1904 – 23 August 1996) was among the first Aboriginal authors to publish an autobiography in 1977. She spent her childhood at Cummeragunja Aboriginal Reserve.

Sir Douglas Ralph Nicholls, KCVO, OBE (9 December 1906 – 4 June 1988) from the Yorta Yorta people, was born the Cummeragunga Reserve. He was the first Aboriginal Australian to be knighted when he was appointed Knight Bachelor in 1972 (he was subsequently appointed a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in 1977). He was also the first Aboriginal Australian to be appointed to vice-regal office, serving as Governor of South Australia from 1 December 1976 until his resignation on 30 April 1977 due to poor health.
Pastor Sir Douglas NichollsKCVO, OBE, 28th Governor of South Australia, Born 9 December 1906
Cummeragunja Reserve, New South Wales

1980s

Echuca, VIC, 1981, no5, Matt W
Echuca, VIC, 1981, Matt W

2000s

James Oswald Little (Jimmy Little) , AO (1 March 1937 – 2 April 2012)[ was an Australian Aboriginal musician, actor and teacher, who was a member of the Yorta Yorta tribe and was raised on the Cummeragunja Reserve, New South Wales. Little died of natural causes in Dubbo, aged 75 years.

Around Echuca and Moama

Moama court house is a historical building constructed in the 1880s. It is located on Francis Street
Moama's Old Telegraph Station. 60 Chanter Street, Moama, NSW, built 1860s
Remnants of Maiden's Inn, Moama, NSW
Caledonian Hotel, Echuca, VIC
In the 1970s, some people began to recover and restore the paddle steamers of Echuca and the tourist industry, and the population of the town began to grow once more.
 American Hotel at Echuca, Victoria
The former Town Hall, now a library, at Echuca, Victoria
Bridge Hotel in Echuca, VIC, built circa 1858
The Shamrock Hotel Echuca, VIC, built circa 1864
Echuca Post Office, Vic, built circa 1877
The former Star Hotel (1867), Echuca, VIC, . The hotel lost its license in 1897, but responded by building a tunnel so that drinkers could escape during raids
The historic Echuca Primary School building
Echuca Railway Station, built 1864-70s
Millewa Chambers, circa 1878, formerly Bond Store
The old brothel, Echuca, VIC
Shops in High Street Echuca, VIC
Masonic Hall, Echuca
Murray River Sawmills, Echuca, VIC
Echuca Anglican Church, VIC
Paddlesteamer Emmylou at the old wharf at Echuca
Federation building at Echuca, VIC
Street scene, Echuca, VIC
Steam train heading toward Echuca, VIC
At the Holden Museum, Echuca, VIC
Echuca weekend
Historical reenactment, Echuca, VIC Ryk Neethling
Opposite the Historic Echuca Wharf in the heart of the Port Precinct, Echuca, VIC
The remains of the original Junction Inn, built and owned by James Maiden, which was destroyed by fire in 1937


Things To Do and Places To Go


Historical Walk Around Echuca

Echuca Historical Society Guided Heritage Walks

National Holden Motor Museum 

Echuca Historical Society Museum and Research Centre 

Port of Echuca Discovery Centre & Echuca Paddlesteamers

Great Aussie Beer Shed & Heritage Farm Museum