Ivanhoe is a delightful village situated on the Cobb Highway 220 kms north west of Hay. The township provides visitors with a pleasant break to their journey in an Outback pastoral community. Friendly people, clean amenities, landscaped recreational areas and a self guided Heritage Trail enable visitors to enjoy a short break and gain an insight into the town's interesting past.

History of Ivanhoe
Ivanhoe Railway Station Advent of the Railway
Ivanhoe Water Supply Government Tank
Early Industrial Relations
Ivanhoe Post Office
Watering holes of a different kind
Road Access to Ivanhoe
Rail Access to Ivanhoe
Hotels, Motels and Caravan Parks in Ivanhoe
Emergency Services in Ivanhoe

Menindee Lakes - Enjoy the spectaculr sunsites over the lakes.

History of Ivanhoe

The historical development of Ivanhoe is synonymous with the Williamson family. George Brown Williamson arrived from Scotland about 1856 and moved to Booligal in 1866 where he operated a Store and Post Office. By 1870 Mr Williamson was operating a branch store at Ivanhoe and in 1873 the Postmaster General permitted the establishment of a Post Office at Ivanhoe where Mr Williamson became its first Postmaster.

The first land sales in the town occurred in 1869 when Mr Williamson purchased land from the Waiko Run, along what is today, Columbus Street.

Over the subsequent years Ivanhoe developed as a community. Cobb and Co. Coaches opened routes through Ivanhoe in 1870. The Post Office opened in 1874 while in 1879 a police presence was provided for the town to protect its residents from the Hatfield Bushrangers. Official law and order followed in 1885 when mounted police were established.

1884 saw the first survey of the town and its Business Houses. The survey included Williamson's General Store, Stewart's General Store, Cobb & Co. Chaff House, Millie's Stable & Yards and seven Hotels. There has always been an Ivanhoe Hotel and at one time for about a year, there were two so named.

The first Bank was established in 1926 by the ES&A group. In 1961, the Commonwealth Bank opened a branch in Columbus Street. Today, the town is serviced by banking facilities at the Licensed Post Office.

The Ivanhoe Jockey Club held its first race meeting in May 1885 and from 1887 large race meetings were being held twice yearly on a course which formed part of the town common until the late 1930s. The club later moved to a new site and merged with a Diggers Race Club to form the Ivanhoe Race Club, becoming a registered AJC club.

The Railway officially arrived in 1927 when the first steam passenger service commenced. The Broken Hill Express operated until September 1937 when the Silver City Comet replaced it. The Comet was the first air-conditioned train to operate in Australia. The Comet can be viewed at the Broken Hill Railway Museum.

Ivanhoe Railway Station - Advent of the Railway

The completion of the Sydney - Broken Hill railway line was of enormous benefit to Ivanhoe and the surrounding areas. The first steam passenger service commenced late in 1927. It was a very comfortable train with first and second class carriages as well as sleeping and dining cars.

Full meals were served, and many passengers have vivid memories of white linen tablecloths and serviettes, even though these were often coloured with red dust during trips in drought times.

The railway played a vital part in the survival of the town by carting water before the construction of a new water supply from Morrison's Lake some 28 kms to the south. For many years, when needed, both the town and properties along the line were supplied with water from the Darling River at Menindee or the Lachlin River at Condobolin. Special starving stock rates were charged to the landowners and the railways did a grand job of filling the galvanised tanks placed at intervals along the railway line.

Once the Menindee Lakes Scheme was completed in 1960, water was freighted 200kms from Lake Menindee to Ivanhoe as required. It was pumped from the rail to a reservoir then reticulated. The water was supplied at cost and the shortfall was subsidised by the Government.

Ivanhoe Water Supply - Government Tank

When the first people settled in Ivanhoe the nearest water supply was Kilfera Lake 25kms away, from which drinking water had to be carted by dray.

A project to establish a series of three earthen ground tanks with a capacity of 70,000 cubic yards (54,000cu.metres) was financed by Government 'Relief Grant 'monies in the late 1930's. One of these stands as a massive monument to Mr Jack W. Leonard, who was well known as a teamster in the Ivanhoe district.

The construction of these tanks was carried out by four seven- horse scoop teams and commenced in 1938 and was completed in 1940, including many miles of drains to divert run off into the storage. The completed tank was 16 feet deep and held four million gallons of water.

Being a very thorough man in his job, Leonard wore out a millet broom sweeping down the batter when he completed the big tank! Water has traditionally been and still is Ivanhoe's scarcest commodity.

Early Industrial Relations

As early as 1874 shearers had been agitating of some sort of organisation or union to establish award rates and conditions. Several attempts were made but failed to gather momentum. It wasn't until the organising union was able to send out organisers to the roll calls at sheds that any headway was made.

The first stand is thought to have been made at Kilfera Station, on 23rd July 1887. Union terms were ignored by the management, so the men left and formed a camp at nearby Ivanhoe. Word came to the camp that Kilfera had obtained ten non-union men, but a night raid to the shearers hut brought them into the union camp. In two weeks the company agreed to the unions' terms and shearing commenced.

In time the union made progress, but there continued to be serious incidents involving shearers, including the sinking of the paddle steamer the "Rodney" on the Darling and in 1925 the Kilfera woolshed was burnt to the ground as a result of the 'industrial trouble'.

The beautiful 82 stand shearing shed at Kilfera Station had begun life as an Exhibition Hall in Melbourne, it was removed to Kilfera in the late 1870's. Kilfera carried up to 200,000 merino sheep on it's 832,000 acres. At shearing time 82 shearers, 82 shed hands, 4 wool pressers 8 wool scourers and an engine driver were employed to barber the 8,000 sheep per day.

Ivanhoe Post Office

Prior to the first Post Office opening on 01 January 1874, mail was delivered on horseback by a private messenger employed by the larger stations in the district. Private mail transport was quite a common practice in the outback in the early days.

The first Post Office was in charge of a man named Charles Hiller, who received 10 pound ($20) per annum. mail was transported by a combination of train, coach and horseback.

During 1882 work commenced on the erection of a telegraph line from Booligal to Wilcannia. On 5th February 1883 a telegraph Station was opened in Ivanhoe under the charge of Alfred Webber Rice, having been promoted from his position in Campbelltown as an operator with Electric Telegraph Department.

The account of Mr Rice's journey from Sydney to Ivanhoe gives an interesting insight into conditions at that time.

Upon leaving Sydney by train, Mr Rice recalled- "....rain was falling in torrents and my prayer was that it would not be raining in Hay, little knowing that rain had not fallen there for two years or more."
From Hay to Booligal was to be by Cobb and Co. coach, he had not secured a seat so he travelled on top of a 20 seat Cobb & Co. Coach on Mailbags. Fifty miles to Booligal on a beastly hot dusty night, arriving at 4am.
The next section took him from Booligal to Mossgiel. "A smaller coach was used and five horses, the latter being in very poor condition, so much so that long before the completion of the stage one of them had to be cut out and left on the track to die...such was the state of the drought that year."

A very tired Mr Rice arrived in Ivanhoe at 2am three days after leaving Sydney and treated with some hospitality, " On my arrival at the Hotel I found a very acceptable hot meal awaiting me consisting of hot boiled leg of mutton, caper sauce and potatoes, and quondong pie for dessert. I mention here that the potatoes were the last I saw for six months, such was the state for want of rain."
By 4pm that day Mr Rice had set up the equipment for the telegraph office and made contact with Sydney, sending some 40 telegrams. _"thus ended my first day as Telegraph Station Master at Ivanhoe, the most important and successful day of my life." Adjournment was made to the Hotel where the National Anthem was sung and appropriate toasts proposed.

A new Post Office building was constructed and opened on 31st January, 1898 the Ivanhoe post office building though renovated in recent years still stands adjacent to its original site.

Watering holes of a different kind

Ivanhoe and district has seen it's fair share of hotels, The Horse and Jockey Hotel, The Royal Mail, One Tree Hotel, Gypsum Palace, The Royal, The Travellers Rest and of course the Ivanhoe Hotel. The development of bush pubs relates directly to that of the mail coaches, and their need of fresh horses and watering points.

Reginald Sharpless found himself on a mail run, on his way to nearby Mossgiel Station. He recounts in his book "The Pommy Jackaroo" arriving at the One Tree Hotel in the Ivanhoe district.

"We drew up outside, and I sat for half a minute surveying the tumble down shanty before me. All timber built, long and narrow and surrounded by the inevitable verandah, it struck me that had three or four hefty drovers leant against one end, it would have collapsed like a pack of cards into the dust."

At the time Sharpless was not inclined to drink alcoholic beverages, but after a short discussion with the bar tender it was clear that it was beer, spirits or nothing! So he tasted his first Australian beer.

"It was flat and it was warm, its only redeeming feature was, it was wet.

Road Access to Ivanhoe

Ivanhoe can be accessed by Road, Rail and Air. The Cobb Highway is the main access point if travelling north from Victoria and southern NSW or south from Cobar, White Cliffs and Wilcannia. Broken Hill can be reached via Menindee.

Travel Distances Menindee to:	Distance (kms)
Broken Hill	310 kms
Hay	220 kms
Wilcannia	190 kms
Cobar	250 kms
Menindee	200 kms

Rail Access to Ivanhoe

Countrylink and Great Southern Railways operate regular services to and from Ivanhoe. Fares and general information are available on the following numbers:

Countrylink Tel : 132232
Great Southern Railways Tel : 132147

 

Hotels, Motels and Caravan Parks in Ivanhoe

Emergency Services in Ivanhoe