# Hermidale

Hermidale is a village in the Orana region of New South Wales, Australia. It is 600km north-west of Sydney and the two closest towns are Nyngan (46 km to the east) and Cobar (51 km to the west). It lies on the Barrier Highway. At the 2021 Census, the population of Hermidale was 127.
The area now known as Hermidale is part of the traditional lands of Wangaaypuwan dialect speakers (also known as Wangaibon) of Ngiyampaa people. After settler colonisation, the site of Hermidale lay partly within the County of Canbelego (Parish of Hermitage) and partly within the County of Flinders (Parish of Boree).
The area was originally known to settlers as Hermitage Plains but postal authorities substituted the name Hermidale, in 1892, initially leading to some confusion with distant Armidale. What would become the village site lay astride the route of the Cobar railway line and a station was opened there in 1892. The village of Hermidale was proclaimed on 18 July 1896. Sales of land took place in mid-1897. The public school opened in 1901.
There were many mines near Hermidale, the most important of which was the Budgery Copper Mine (north-west of the village). There were also some small gold mines in the far west of the modern-day locality, around Muriel Tank. Hermidale was initially the rail connection location for the mines at Nymagee but the opening of the Budgery Copper Mine brought some prosperity to the village from around 1906. In 1923, mining became uneconomic due to low copper prices and the Budgery Mining Co. went into liquidation. By 1924, all levels of the mine were flooded; the mine water contained dissolved copper salts and copper was extracted from it. There was also a village of Budgery—planned in 1908—but its design was cancelled in 1927, leaving Hermidale as the established community in the area.
In 1913, Hermidale was the location of the murder of Mary Jane Greentree.
Unlike other former mining villages in the region, such as the ghost towns of Bobadah and Canbelego, Hermidale has considerable passing traffic, bringing potential customers to the village, due to its location on the Barrier Highway. The village retains a sports ground, tennis courts, post office, public school and one hotel, and it has a small cemetery.
In 2018, it was announced that Hermidale is the site of a new multi-user rail siding that will accommodate trains up to 1,200 metres long. It will enable trains to be loaded more efficiently, while other trains pass on the rail line. The new siding will result in 33,000 tonnes of freight each year being switched from road transport to rail.

## Reference section

* 1 2 Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Hermidale". 2021 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
* ↑ "Hermidale". Geographical Names Board. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
* ↑ "Hermidale". OpenStreetMap. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
* 1 2 "Village of Hermidale and suburban lands [cartographic material] : Land District of Nyngan". Trove. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
* ↑ "Index page". New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 - 1900). 30 April 1892. pp. xiii. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
* ↑ "Advertising". Australian Star (Sydney, NSW : 1887 - 1909). 30 August 1892. p. 6. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
* ↑ "Hermidale Station". www.nswrail.net. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
* ↑ "LAND SETTLEMENT". Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930). 9 June 1897. p. 6. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
* 1 2 "Home - Hermidale Public School". hermidale-p.schools.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
* ↑ "Hermidale". nswgovschoolhistory.cese.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
* ↑ "Hermidale, Canbelego Co., New South Wales, Australia". www.mindat.org. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
* ↑ "Budgery Copper Mine, Hermidale, Canbelego Co., New South Wales, Australia". www.mindat.org. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
* ↑ "MINING INTELLIGENCE". Australian Star (Sydney, NSW : 1887 - 1909). 28 November 1894. p. 3. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
* ↑ "THE MINER". Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1907). 3 October 1906. p. 38. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
* ↑ "Muriel, Bogan, NSW, Australia". Mindat.
* ↑ "HERMIDALE TOWNSHIP". Cobar Herald (NSW : 1899 - 1914). 22 September 1906. p. 4. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
* ↑ "Advertising". Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954). 12 May 1923. p. 22. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
* ↑ "MINING AT HERMIDALE". Dubbo Dispatch and Wellington Independent (NSW : 1887 - 1932). 8 August 1924. p. 4. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
* ↑ "Map of the village of Budgery and suburban lands [cartographic material] : parish of Hermitage, county of Canbelego, land district of Nyngan, Bogan Shire N.S.W. 1908 / compiled, drawn and printed at the Department of Lands". trove.nla.gov.au. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
* ↑ "PROPOSED CANCELLATION OF DESIGN OF THE VILLAGE OF BUDGERY". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 2001). 21 October 1927. p. 5015. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
* ↑ "CIRCUIT COURT. A CHARGE OF MURDER. SOME STARTLING EVIDENCE. DEATH SENTENCE PRONOUNCED". Dubbo Dispatch and Wellington Independent. 12 September 1913. p. 1. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
* ↑ "Australian Cemeteries Index - Cemetery 47 - Hermidale". austcemindex.com. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
* ↑ "Major road, rail initiatives delivered at Hermidale". Roads & Infrastructure Magazine. 29 July 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2021.