Alstonville

Alstonville is a town in northern New South Wales, Australia, part of the region known as the Northern Rivers.

Alstonville is a town in northern New South Wales, Australia, part of the region known as the Northern Rivers. Alstonville is on the Bruxner Highway between the town of Ballina (13 km to the east) and city of Lismore (19 km to the west). The village of Wollongbar is 4 km to the west of Alstonville. Alstonville is the service centre of the area known as the Alstonville Plateau.

Europeanswere first attracted to the area, known as the Big Scrub, in the 1840s by the plentiful supply of Red Cedar. It was not until 1865 that the firstsettlers selected land in the area, then known as the parish ofTuckombil. Some notable selections in the first five years include that of the Freeborn, Roberston, Graham, Newborn, Crawford, Mellis, and Newtonfamilies. By 1883Alstonville boasted two pubs, six stores, two black-smiths, nine sugar mills, and four saw mills.Sugar cane was an important industry to the early settlers, with many small mills operating across the district. These were later replaced by larger more efficient steam mills such as those erected in 1882 at Alstonville(owned by the Melbourne Sugar Company) adjacent to Maguires Creek and at Rous Mill adjacent to Youngman Creek. By 1896 the Rous mill boasted alight rail line to transport cane from Alstonville. From the 1890s ownward, dairies became common across the area, later becoming thedominant industry for the first half of the 20th century. Due tolackof refrigeration, cream, not milk, was the product of interest, whichwastransported to local factories to be made into butter. The firstbutter factories were located at Wollongbah (1889), Rous (1889) andTeven Road (1890). In 1900the NSW Creamery Butter Company built the Alstonville factory near Maguires Creek, which wassometime later acquired by NORCO. After closing this buildingbecame a caravan factory, peanutfactory, and finally a furniturefactory, which is still open today.

One notable former resident ofAlstonville is Patrick Joseph Bugden who was awarded a Victoria Cross(the highest military decoration which can be awarded to a member ofthe armed forces of the Commonwealth). "Paddy" served as a member of the31st Battalion AIF during the First World War. The annual Anzac day parade starts at the Paddy Bugden Memorial, which is situated on Bugden Avenue.

Thevillage was originally known as "Duck Creek Mountain" after Duck Creek, which flows along the southern edge of town eventually merging with Emigrant Creek and the Richmond River. The name was given by the cedar cutters because of the abundance of wild duck on the upper tidalreaches of the creek.In 1873, due to conflict of the original name with a different duck creek the first postmaster and owner of the general store John Perry proposed the name "Alstonville". Alstonville, also the name of the Perry farm, was derived from Alston the maiden name of his wife Annie Alston.