page_title: Yass, New South Wales
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Yass, New South Wales / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Hume Bridge Yass
context_page_description: Yass is a town in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. It is in the Yass Valley Shire. The name probably comes from an Aboriginal word, "Yarrh", which means 'running water'.
  Yass is about 280 km southwest of Sydney and is 56 km north of Canberra. It is on the Hume Highway which is the main road between Melbourne and Sydney. The new Hume Freeway goes around the town. The Yass River flows past the town. It later flows into the Murrumbidgee River.
  Yass has an impressive and historic main street. It includes many 19th century hotels with large verandahs. It is popular with tourists, some from Canberra and others taking a break from the Hume Highway.
  The Pride of Erin Festival and Yass Show are held in March. The Yass Arts-and-Crafts Festival is held in November.
context_section_description: The Yass area has long been inhabited by Aboriginal tribes called the Wiradjuri and Ngunnawal. They called it yarrh, meaning “running water.”
  In 1821 the area was visited by the European explorer Hamilton Hume. In 1830 a small village began. It started where the road crossed the Yass River. The road became the main road to Melbourne.
  Yass became a District Council in 1842. By 1848 there were 248 people living in Yass.  On 13 March, 1873, the Municipal District of Yass was begun. James Cottrell was elected as the first Mayor of Yass.
  One of Australia's best known poets, A.B. 'Banjo' Paterson came to the area with his family in 1871. He was only 7 and spent his childhood in the district, near Binalong. He later bought a property at Wee Jasper, near Yass, so that his children could enjoy a country life. Poet and priest Patrick Hartigan was born near Yass in 1878. He studied at the local convent school as a youth. He wrote using the name John O'Brien.
  Sir Walter Merriman started a farm called 'Merryville'. It became one of Australia's most famous sheep farms. It produced some of the best fine wool in 1903. Yass is an important area for raising sheep which have very fine wool. This is because of the soil and climate in the Yass area.
  Yass was one of the sites suggested for the Australian Federal Capital after 1901.
caption: Hume Bridge over Yass River
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2008:10:09 13:20:57", "Image WhitePoint": "[313/1000, 329/1000]", "Image PrimaryChromaticities": "[16/25, 33/100, 21/100, 71/100, 3/20, 3/50]", "Image YCbCrCoefficients": "[299/1000, 587/1000, 57/500]", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "8", "Thumbnail ImageLength": "[]", "Thumbnail Tag 0x288A": "[]", "Thumbnail Tag 0x533A": "[]", "Thumbnail Tag 0xC604": "[]", "Thumbnail Tag 0xD23A": "[]", "Thumbnail Tag 0x9402": "[]", "Thumbnail Tag 0xC6A8": "[]", "Thumbnail Tag 0x505A": "[]", "Thumbnail Tag 0xA04E": "[]", "Thumbnail Tag 0xB7EB": "[]", "Thumbnail Tag 0xDC2E": "[]", "Thumbnail Tag 0x8CDA": "[]", "Thumbnail Tag 0xE018": "[]", "Thumbnail Tag 0x1147": "[]", "Thumbnail Tag 0x5143": "[]", "Thumbnail Tag 0x30E2": "[]", "Thumbnail Tag 0x57F4": "[]", "Thumbnail Tag 0x4EB6": "[]", "Thumbnail Tag 0x49CE": "[]", "Thumbnail Tag 0x6264": "[]", "Thumbnail Tag 0x958C": "[]", "Thumbnail Tag 0x47C0": "[]", "Thumbnail Tag 0x1839": "[]", "Thumbnail Tag 0x1916": "[]", "Thumbnail Tag 0x77ED": "[]", "Thumbnail Tag 0x305F": "[]", "Thumbnail Tag 0xC593": "[]", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/100", "EXIF FNumber": "10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Shutter Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2008:10:09 13:20:57", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2008:10:09 13:20:57", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "108853/16384", "EXIF ApertureValue": "108853/16384", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "25", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2496", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1664", "Interoperability Tag 0x829A": "1/100", "Interoperability Tag 0x829D": "10", "Interoperability Tag 0x8822": "4", "Interoperability Tag 0x8827": "100", "Interoperability Tag 0x9000": "[48, 50, 50, 49]", "Interoperability Tag 0x9003": "2008:10:09 13:20:57", "Interoperability Tag 0x9004": "2008:10:09 13:20:57", "Interoperability Tag 0x9101": "[1, 2, 3, 0]", "Interoperability Tag 0x9201": "108853/16384", "Interoperability Tag 0x9202": "108853/16384", "Interoperability Tag 0x9204": "0", "Interoperability Tag 0x9207": "5", "Interoperability Tag 0x9209": "16", "Interoperability Tag 0x920A": "25", "Interoperability Tag 0xA000": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability Tag 0xA001": "65535", "Interoperability Tag 0xA002": "2496", "Interoperability Tag 0xA003": "1664", "Interoperability Tag 0xA005": "8", "Interoperability Tag 0xA20E": "1248000/437", "Interoperability Tag 0xA20F": "832000/291", "Interoperability Tag 0xA210": "2", "Interoperability Tag 0xA401": "0", "Interoperability Tag 0xA402": "0", "Interoperability Tag 0xA403": "1", "Interoperability Tag 0xA406": "0", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "8", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "1248000/437", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "832000/291", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}