Collector

Postcode: 2581

Collector is a small town on the Federal Highway in New South Wales, Australia.

The area was first settled by Europeans in 1829 when T.A. Murray was granted an area of land in the area in 1829. He built a 12 room house on the land in 1837 and in 1848 a post office opened at Collector. The town reportedly is named after the Aboriginal name for the region colegadar.

The town was by-passed by the Federal Highway in 1988 and has struggled to remain viable ever since. The Bushranger Hotel in Collector was the site of a shooting of a Constable Samuel Nelson on 26 Jan 1865, by John Dunn, a member of Ben Halls gang.

Collector's history is the history of the roads which passed through it. When horse and bullock were the main means of transportation the town prospered as it was a day's journey from Goulburn. It was during this time that it had five inns and a number of stores. When Canberra was chosen as the national capital the town benefited as the Barton Highway, later to become the Federal Highway, passed through the town and consequently was kept in good condition.

Today the Federal Highway by-passes the town but it is still worth visiting for the historic Bushranger Hotel and the memorabilia associated with Ben Hall's bushranger gang.

For more information about this town, click here