Wentworth sits on the junction of Australia’s two mightiest rivers – the Murray and the Darling.

It is the administrative centre of the sprawling Wentworth Shire, one of the largest municipalities in New South Wales, encompassing an area of 26,500 square kilometres or 2,616,926 hectares.

Captain Charles Sturt discovered the junction of Australia’s two mightiest river systems – the Murray and Darling – in the 1830’s paving the way for what was to become the thriving river port town of Wentworth.

The overlanders followed the explorers, using the routes along the river the drive their cattle to the Adelaide markets. The trail along the Murrumbidgee and Murray Rivers became so popular it became known as the Sydney/Adelaide ‘highway’.

The junction stopover at the Murray/Darling junction became an established camp known as Hawdon’s Ford.

Then came the squatters, establishing illegal reign over the land along both the Darling and Murray Rivers, expanding their holdings westwards from the blossoming Murrumbidgee grazing area and, at the same time, northeast from the South Australian settlements.

By the mid-1840’s the junction settlement had become “McLeod’s Crossing”, named for the first residents of the fledgling settlement.

With the arrival of the river steamers in 1853, the small hamlet found itself ideally situated as an administrative and commercial centre for the untapped wealth of the vast outback.

For many years Sydney and Newcastle were the only ports in New South Wales to handle more cargo than Wentworth as the steamers brought a new sophistication to the rugged river towns. They carried the hopes and dreams of the communities they served for more than three quarters of a century.

Wentworth became a town on June 21, 1859, named for the New South Wales explorer and politician William Charles Wentworth.

The area was proclaimed a municipality on January 23, 1879.

Wentworth Shire suffered extremes in fortune throughout the prosperous river trade days. The area endured flood, drought, rabbit plagues and less natural disasters like overstocking which in turn caused erosion and land degradation.

Despite the odds, the area continued to thrive and grow at a reasonably rapid pace.

The first irrigation settlement was established at Curlwaa, seven kilometres east of Wentworth, in the late 1880’s.

By 1929 a series of locks and weirs had been established on the Murray River, bringing with them a certainty of water supply that was vital for navigation and irrigation.

Irrigation breathed a new life into the district and the subsequent expansion of the project led to pastoral properties being sub divided into smaller allotments (referred to as ‘blocks’).

This in turn enabled a huge upsurge of development resulting in the production of high quality fruits and vegetables for which the area remains highly regarded.

An improved system of road networks, State-wide rail links and motorised transport reduced the need for riverboats as a source of transportation; communication and trade, thus sounding the death knell for the paddleboat era.

European settlement of the Pooncarie district is believed to have begun in the 1840’s when settlers headed west to illegally graze livestock on vacant Crown Land between the Murrumbidgee and Lower Darling Rivers.

The settlers were following in the footsteps of explorers like Burke and Wills, and the township is believed to have been the site of the “Bilbarka” camp for that ill-fated outback discovery expedition.

The pioneering settlers illegally took up the land as ‘runs’; essentially large, unfenced areas of land used to graze, or run, sheep and cattle.

Landmarks, like distinctive trees, defined agreed boundaries.

Fencing did not become common until the 1860’s, when the leases were formalised by the Federal Government of the day to foster pastoral settlement and give the Government more control over the area.

As more land was settled and the prospect of paddle steamer trade became reality, the need arose for a small service town on the Lower Darling.

In 1862 a plan was drawn up for a village on the east bank of the river, almost midway between Menindee and Wentworth.

The village was gazetted ‘Pooncaira’ on December 17, 1863. By 1889, the town had a post office, police station, a school, two hotels and a number of houses.

The ‘Port of Pooncarie’ was a vital link with the outside world for the district’s grazing properties, its wharf facilities having the unique advantage of being unaffected by flooding.

Built on a series of sand hills, Pooncarie had a natural two-tier wharf, accommodating steamers when the Darling River was high or low.

You may have noticed the different spellings of the township/district. First it was Pooncaree when a pastoral run, then gazetted as the village Pooncaira and more recently Pooncarie.

There is no definitive story to explain this anomaly, but the agreed spelling now is ‘Pooncarie’.

Today, the town is still referred to by many locals as ‘The Port’. It remains an important hub for the surrounding grazing district and the annual Pooncarie Races are a highlight on district sporting and social calendars.

Pomona takes it name from the largest island of the Orkney Group, to the north of Scotland, between John O’Groats and the Shetland Isles.

Originally known as ‘Seven Mile Point’, the district became Pomona, taking its name from a farm holding in the area owned by former Wentworth stalwart and Mayor, John Dunn. His wife, Catherine (nee Muir) was Pomona Island born.

The Dunns arrived in Wentworth in 1876 and John went on to become a community leader and important businessman. He is also thought to be Sunraysia’s first winemaker, producing his debut drop in the late 1880s. There is no report of how it tasted!

On his selection, comprising rich, alluvial river soils, his predominant experiment was with orchard and vine irrigation, drawing his water from the Darling River and following in the footsteps of the Canadian Chaffey Brothers in Mildura.

It was success!

The Darling River Irrigation Company purchased Pomona Farm in 1910, instigating the first extensive irrigation development.

The company developed stone fruit and citrus orchards as well as vines.

Perhaps the project was not as successful as expected, or maybe the owners wanted recoup their investment, but a decision was made to subdivide Pomona into smaller blocks and sell them off. This was about 1919. The development was after known as the Pomona Irrigation Estate.

The original Estate comprised about 500 hectares (1228 acres) divided into 20-hectare (50 acre) blocks. It was described by the press at the time as “an oasis of cultivation in the desert flats of the Darling”.

The smaller holdings flourished, but the 1920s were turbulent times and legal wrangles over vital irrigation water supplies took their toll. Development came to a standstill.

Eventually these challenges were overcome when, in the early 1930s, the Water Conservation and Irrigation Commission stepped in. Representing the State Government, the Commission formed the Pomona Irrigation Trust to ensure equitable water supplies for all.

With water entitlements assured by Government control, the area went ahead in leaps and bounds.

Today it is a cohesive community, proud of its pioneering irrigation history while being at the forefront of modern practice.