Tilpa

Tilpa is a town in the Far West region of New South Wales, Australia.

Tilpa is a town in the Far West region of New South Wales, Australia.The town is located on the Darling River, in the Central Darling Shire local government area, 917 kilometres (570 mi) north west of the state capital, Sydney.

At the 2016 census, Tilpa and the large surrounding area had a population of 44.The town itself is said to have a population of nine.The Darling River at Tilpa has erratic flows and is often dry in periods of drought. However floods in 1956 saw the Darling River span 80 kilometres (50 mi) at its widest, isolating Tilpa for five months.

In its heyday, Tilpa was an important river port with paddle steamers delivering supplies to nearby sheep stations and returning down river laden with bales of wool. The wool was taken to Wentworth—at the confluence of the Darling and Murray Rivers—and then either to Adelaide or to Echuca for passage to the port at Melbourne. The town was home to a punt, allowing sheep, horses and people to cross the Darling River safely, for a fee. The punt has since been replaced by a bridge. The photo of the punt and the bridge dates it to after 1963 as that is when the bridge was completed.