Culcairn

Postcode: 2660

Culcairn is a town in the south east Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia,. Culcairn is located in the Greater Hume Shire Council Local government area on the Olympic Highway between Albury and Wagga Wagga. The town is located 514 kilometres south west of the state capital, Sydney and at the 2001 census had a population of 1,027.

The town is an important supply centre for nearby towns and villages including, Morven, Gerogery, Henty, Walla Walla and Pleasant Hills. It sits on the main railway line between Sydney and Melbourne and is serviced by the Countrylink XPT service which runs twice daily.

Billabong Creek runs along the southern edge of town, lending its name to the local high school.

European settlement of Culcairn began in 1834, following favourable reports on grazing potential and grass cover by the explorers Hume and Hovell when travelling overland to the Port Phillip district in 1824.

The town itself was laid out in 1880 by James Balfour, a local landowner, who named it after a property in the parish of Kiltearn, his mother's birthplace. Early industries included chaff mills, a cereal grain company and a quarry. The extension of the Main Southern railway line to Albury to meet the broad gauge line from Melbourne saw Culcairn prosper. The Culcairn Hotel, constructed in 1891, was the largest on the line between Melbourne and Sydney.

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