Nimmitabel

Town in New South Wales, Australia

36°30′0″S 149°17′0″E / 36.50000°S 149.28333°E / -36.50000; 149.28333Population324 (2021 census)^[1]Postcode(s)2631Elevation1,075 m (3,527 ft)Location

435 km (270 mi) SSW of Sydney
152 km (94 mi) S of Canberra
37 km (23 mi) SSE of Cooma
75 km (47 mi) WNW of Bega

LGA(s)Snowy Monaro Regional Council State electorate(s)Monaro Federal division(s)Eden-Monaro

Mean max temp	Mean min temp	Annual rainfall
15.6 °C 60 °F	3.4 °C 38 °F	687.6 mm 27.1 in

Nimmitabel is a small town in the Monaro region in southeast New South Wales, Australia, in the Snowy Monaro Regional Council local government area. At the 2021 census, Nimmitabel had a population of 324.^[1]

Etymology

Nimmitabel means "the place where many waters start or divide" in the local Aboriginal language.^[2] Many various spellings were adopted for the town, including: Nimmytabell (1837), Nimitabelle (1838), Nimmitabool (1841), Nimmittybel (1844), Nimmitabel(1845), Nimmitybelle, Nimithybale, Nymytable (all in 1848), Nimmitabil(1851), Nimitabille and Nimithy Bell(1856), Nimaty-Bell(1857), Nimmitabel(1858)^[3]

Geography

The town is 37 kilometres (23 mi) south of Cooma and 75 kilometres (47 mi) west of Bega. Nimmitabel is on a stretch of highway shared between the Snowy Mountains Highway (HWY B72) and the Monaro Highway (HWY B23). It is on the southern end of the Great Dividing Range, at the west of the Monaro Range, and lies 20 kilometres (12 mi) west of the Wadbilliga National Park. The area around Nimmitabel has the only true chernozem soil in Australia, a very rich, fertile and dark coloured soil.^[4]

Climate

Nimmitabel has a cool oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) with cool to mild summers and cold winters, with evenly-spread, modest rainfall throughout the year. Frosts occur regularly throughout the year, even at the height of summer. It is decently sunny, with 102.2 clear days annually, being largely on account of its leeward location.

Because of its elevation and southern latitude, several snowfalls can be expected each year from May through to October; on rare occasions, snow flurries may even occur in December (early summer). Snow can occur heavily at times. The town has recorded sub-freezing daily maxima on multiple occasions: −0.6 °C (30.9 °F) on 13 June 1965, and shortly thereafter −1.1 °C (30.0 °F) on 17 July 1965.

Climate data for Nimmitabel Wastewater Treatment Facility (1911–1975); 1,075 AMSL; 36.51° S, 149.28° E
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	37.2 (99.0)	38.3 (100.9)	31.7 (89.1)	25.6 (78.1)	23.9 (75.0)	17.2 (63.0)	14.5 (58.1)	18.7 (65.7)	25.6 (78.1)	26.1 (79.0)	31.1 (88.0)	34.4 (93.9)	38.3 (100.9)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	22.8 (73.0)	22.6 (72.7)	20.2 (68.4)	15.7 (60.3)	11.6 (52.9)	8.3 (46.9)	7.7 (45.9)	9.4 (48.9)	12.8 (55.0)	16.0 (60.8)	18.6 (65.5)	21.6 (70.9)	15.6 (60.1)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	8.5 (47.3)	8.9 (48.0)	6.7 (44.1)	3.6 (38.5)	0.9 (33.6)	−1.2 (29.8)	−1.9 (28.6)	−1.3 (29.7)	0.7 (33.3)	3.1 (37.6)	5.2 (41.4)	7.4 (45.3)	3.4 (38.1)
Record low °C (°F)	−1.1 (30.0)	−1.1 (30.0)	−2.1 (28.2)	−3.3 (26.1)	−7.2 (19.0)	−8.7 (16.3)	−9.9 (14.2)	−10.5 (13.1)	−8.7 (16.3)	−6.6 (20.1)	−3.9 (25.0)	−2.2 (28.0)	−10.5 (13.1)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	69.1 (2.72)	59.4 (2.34)	60.9 (2.40)	47.9 (1.89)	51.9 (2.04)	65.4 (2.57)	49.4 (1.94)	45.4 (1.79)	48.4 (1.91)	59.4 (2.34)	62.4 (2.46)	68.0 (2.68)	687.6 (27.08)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm)	7.6	7.5	7.9	7.6	8.6	9.8	9.0	9.0	9.4	9.5	9.0	8.6	103.5
Source: Australian Bureau of Meteorology; Nimmitabel Wastewater Treatment Facility

History

(Learn how and when to remove this message)

1840 Locals started calling the village Nimoitebool
1845 Appears on Townsend's map as Nimmitabel
1858 Church was built
1857 Renewal of licence for hotel
1858 Post office arrives
1861 Bell's Store
1863 Separate Courthouse built
1865 Geldmacher builds windmill
1866 Cameron's Store opens
1869 Nimmitabel Public School opens
1912 Railway arrives
1921 Area's first saw-mill opens
1959 Used as location for multi-Oscar nominated film The Sundowners^[5]
1986 Railway closes

Gallery

Geldmacher's windmill tower at Nimmitabel
The concrete elephant “George” at the Nimmitabel Bakery
Nimmitabel railway station 21 years after the last train

References

^ ^a ^b Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Nimmitabel". 2021 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
^ "Nimmitabel". Geographical Names Register (GNR) of NSW. Geographical Names Board of New South Wales. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
^ "NIMMITABEL – Our historic village – Welcome to the community website for the village of Nimmitabel, New South Wales". Retrieved 7 September 2019.
^ KG McQueen "The Tertiary Geology And Geomorphology Of The Monaro: The Perspective In 1994" [1] Centre For Australian Regolith Studies, Canberra 1994
^ "America's Best, Britain's Finest: A Survey of Mixed Movies" - Google Books, John Howard Reid, pub. Lulu.com, March 2006. ISBN 9781411678774, p.241

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/226458343

External links

Nimmitabel travel guide from Wikivoyage
Media related to Nimmitabel, New South Wales at Wikimedia Commons
Aerial photo of Nimmitabel from Terraserver
Information about Nimmitabel, including history and photos
Some history from Peter Goed, particular focus on the 1950s
Article: "The Day the Stars Came to Nimmitabel..The Making of the Sundowners" by Peter Goed @ Cooma-Monaro website (includes photos from the making of the film in 1959)