Tathra

History

The Tathra area lies within the traditional lands of the Djiringanj people, a group of the Yuin. The headland at Tathra is the site of a shell midden, which indicates it was a place favoured by the original inhabitants and a source of food. Tathra was first settled by Europeans in the 1820s and 1830s, although it was outside the limits of a legal settlement, the Nineteen Counties. After a period of dispossession from much of their lands and coexistence with the settlers in the Bega Valley, the Aboriginal population was removed to the Wallaga Lake Aboriginal Reserve, under the control of the Aborigines Protection Board of New South Wales. The wharf, built on turpentine supports set into solid rock, was restored by the National Trust, Department of Planning, and local residents. It is the only remaining coastal steamer wharf in NSW. In 1943, a local Volunteer Fire Brigade was established. In 2011 the Commissioner of the NSW Rural Fire Service opened a new station next to the older Station which had been in place since the early 1970s. In December 2020 the town's Fire Station received a major upgrade including the addition of a dedicated training and meeting room which featured the latest in modern technology including video conferencing. Tathra Fire Brigade is now one of the most well-equipped brigades on the Far South Coast and with weekly training, it has also come to be one of the most active brigades. As with the Fire Brigade, the town also has a Surf Life Saving Club. In 2008 two children fell from the wharf. Their father jumped in to attempt their rescue, but all three drowned. On the morning of 3 April 2014, Christine Armstrong, a member of the Tathra Surf Life Saving Club was taken by a shark believed to be approximately long. Armstrong was swimming…

Most-observed species

• Australian Magpie

  Gymnorhina tibicen (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  995
• Superb Fairywren

  Malurus cyaneus (Ellis, 1782) · Aves
  917
• eastern grey kangaroo

  Macropus giganteus Shaw, 1790 · Mammalia
  800
• Gray Fantail

  Rhipidura albiscapa Gould, 1840 · Aves
  760
• Brown Thornbill

  Acanthiza pusilla (Shaw, 1790) · Aves
  734
• Bell Miner

  Manorina melanophrys (Latham, 1801) · Aves
  727
• Yellow-faced Honeyeater

  Caligavis chrysops (Latham, 1801) · Aves
  706
• Red Wattlebird

  Anthochaera carunculata (Shaw, 1790) · Aves
  697

Most recent

• M 3 — 2007-03-06
  88 km ESE of Bermagui, Australia
• M 3 — 2003-12-01
  7 km ENE of Cooma, Australia