Harden

Postcode: 2587

Harden-Murrumburrah is a township and the centre of Harden Shire and is located in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales and is adjacent to both the Canberra region of the Australian Capital Territory, and the Riverina Region in the southwest area of NSW. The town is a twin town between Harden and Murrumburrah (which is noted as one of the earliest settlements in the southwest of New South Wales).

Before European settlement the Harden area was inhabited by the Wiradjuri people. Hume and Hovell passed neaby in 1824. In the late 1820s, the 'Murrumburra' was established. Its superintendent, James Kennedy, established an inn on the townsite in the late 1840s. Gold was found in the area in the 1850s. A railway station was opened one km east of Murrumburrah on the Main Southern line in 1877 as Murrumburrah Station, but changed its name to Harden Station, a year after the opening of a new station in Murrumburrah in 1879. Harden has remained as the main station and, as a result, became the main town.

The shire is traversed by the Burley Griffin Way, the major link from the Riverina to the Hume Highway near Yass, and ultimately Sydney, Canberra and the coast. Cunningham Creek runs along the edge of the town.

The Olympic Highway traverses the western end of the shire and is the major link through the central west to the Blue Mountains and from there to the Sydney region.

Harden is 3.5 hours away by road from Sydney, and 1.5 hours from Canberra and Wagga Wagga. The shire is accessible via the XPT passenger rail service.

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