Jennings is a town on the Northern Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia. The town is located in the Tenterfield Shire local government area, 718 kilometres (446 mi) from the state capital, Sydney and 256 kilometres (159 mi) from Brisbane. It is separated by the state border from its neighbouring town of Wallangarra in Queensland. At the 2011 census, Jennings had a population of 211.[1] The New England Highway and the Main North railway line cross the state border at Jennings. The town was named for Sir Patrick Jennings, the first Roman Catholic Premier of New South Wales.[3]
| Jennings New South Wales | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Hotel and NSW Agriculture warning | |||||||||
  Jennings | |||||||||
| Coordinates | 28°56′32″S 151°57′36″E / 28.94222°S 151.96000°E | ||||||||
| Population | 211 (2011 census)[1] | ||||||||
| Established | 1888 | ||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 4383[2] | ||||||||
| Elevation | 875 m (2,871 ft) | ||||||||
| Location |
| ||||||||
| LGA(s) | Tenterfield Shire | ||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Lismore | ||||||||
| Federal division(s) | New England | ||||||||
| |||||||||
History
editThe rail line from Brisbane reached Wallangarra in 1887, a year before the Main North railway line reached Jennings from Sydney in 1888. A break-of-gauge station was established on the border with the north platform part of the Queensland rail network and the southern platform maintained by New South Wales.[4] After several changes of name between the two towns, in 1904, the name of the station was confirmed as Wallangarra.[5] A Jennings Railway Station Telegraph Office opened on 16 January 1888. In 1904 it was renamed by a Wallangarra Receiving Office.[6] The Wallangarra Post Office in Queensland was opened in 1885.[7] Passenger rail services to Brisbane ceased in 1972 and the New South Wales line was closed north of Tenterfield to rail traffic in 1989. The station, refurbished in 2001, is now listed on the Queensland Heritage Register.[4]
The Jennings Public School, still in operation and sited virtually opposite the Wallangarra School in Queensland, was established in 1889 following representations from the Officer in Charge of Customs for New South Wales at Wallangarra.[8] During World War II, an ammunition dump was established at Jennings due to the break-of-gauge at Wallangarra railway station.[9] The dump along with a general army store in Wallangarra still exist today.[10][11]
A modern survey of the Queensland/New South Wales border, conducted as a Centenary of Federation project in 2001, found an error of 200 metres (700 ft) in the original border survey, conducted between 1863 and 1866, near Jennings. This indicates that if the border was placed where originally intended, Jennings would be located in Queensland rather than New South Wales.[12]
References
edit- ^ a b Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Jennings (State Suburb)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
- ^ Jennings Postcode Australia Post
- ^ "Jennings". Tenterfield Shire Council. Archived from the original on 29 August 2007. Retrieved 25 August 2007.
- ^ a b "Wallangarra Railway Station and Complex". Queensland Heritage Register. Environmental Protection Agency (Queensland). Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 25 August 2007.
- ^ "Wallangarra Railway Station". NSWRail.net. Retrieved 25 August 2007.
- ^ Phoenix Auctions History. "Post Office List New South Wales". Phoenix Auctions. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
- ^ Phoenix Auctions History. "Post Office List Queensland". Phoenix Auctions. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
- ^ "Our School History". Jennings Public School. Archived from the original on 1 September 2007. Retrieved 25 August 2007.
- ^ Dunn, Peter. "Advanced Ordnance Depot (3 AOD) Wallangarra Logistics Support Area, QLD and 1 Advanced Ammunition Depot (1 AAD)Jennings, NSW, during WW2". Australia at War. Archived from the original on 20 September 2007. Retrieved 25 August 2007.
- ^ Australian National Audit Office (2011). "Management of the Explosive Ordnance Services Contract" (PDF). Australian National Audit Office. p. 63. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
- ^ "Wallangarra Stores Depot, Queensland" (PDF). Department of Defence. 1 October 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
- ^ "State and Territory Borders". Geoscience Australia. Archived from the original on 22 August 2007. Retrieved 25 August 2007.
