Tuggeranong

Tuggeranong is the southernmost town centre of Canberra, the capital city of Australia. It comprises 19 suburbs with a total of 31,819 dwellings, housing 87,119 people of the 324,034 people in the Australian Capital Territory (2006 Census). The district occupies 117 square kilometres to the east of the Murrumbidgee River.

Tuggeranong is in a valley of the Brindabella Ranges. Cave paintings and Aboriginal artifacts discovered in the area indicate that the Tuggeranong region has been occupied for over 21,000 years. The name is derived from an Aboriginal expression meaning "cold plains".

History

In 1821, a third expedition to the area known as the "Limestone Plains" led by Charles Throsby found the Murrumbidgee River near Pine Islandcite web |title= Discover our Territory |publisher= Canberra & District Historical Society |url= http://www.canberrahistory.org.au/discover.asp |accessdate= 2008-06-15] and the valley now occupied by the Tuggeranong district. In 1823 Joseph Wild was employed by Brigade Major John Ovens and Captain Mark Currie to guide them to the Murrumbidgee. They travelled south along the river and named the area now known as Tuggeranong "Isabella's Plain" in honour of Governor Brisbane's infant daughter. Unable to cross the river near the current site of Tharwa, they continued on to the Monaro Plains. The last expedition in the region was undertaken by Allan Cunningham in 1824. Cunningham's reports verified that the region was suitable for grazing, and the settlement of the Limestone Plains followed immediately thereafter.

In 1828, the bushranger John Tennant, known as the 'Terror of Argyle', was captured by James Ainslie and two others near the Murrumbidgee River in Tuggeranong. Tennant had been a convict assigned to Joshua John Moore at Canberry, a property in the present day inner north Canberra. Mount Tennent, behind Tharwa, is named after the bushranger (note the difference in spelling). [ [http://www.canberrahistory.org.au/discover.asp Our History, Our Territory ] ]

The first authorised settler was James Murdoch. In 1824 he was offered a land grant on a small plain known by the natives as 'Togranong' meaning 'cold plains'. He took up the grant in 1827. Lanyon station was established in 1835 and originally owned by James Wright and John Lanyon. Wright bought the property from Lanyon, who had only remained in Australia for three years. Wright sold to the Cunningham family in 1848. In 1835 Colonel Thomas Hiah Macquoid, then Sheriff of the New South Wales Supreme Court bought Tuggeranong station then known as Waniassa property (sic). The rural depression of 1840 hit hard and Macquoid committed suicide in order to avoid bankruptcy. His son took over the estate and creditors allowed him to continue to operate it until it was sold by the Macquoid family in 1858 to the Cunningham family, owners of the neighbouring Lanyon property. ["Exploring the ACT and Southeast New South Wales", J. Kay McDonald, Kangaroo Press, Sydney, 1985, p 45 ISBN 0-86417-049-1 ] They renamed Waniassa to Tuggranong (sic). The whole area was part of the Tuggeranong parish in the late nineteenth century. Tuggranong homestead was rebuilt by the Cunningham family in 1908. In 1917 it was resumed by the Commonwealth Government for military purposes. The Cunningham family remained at Lanyon until 1926. Charles Bean, together with his staff, wrote the first two volumes of the twelve volume official history of Australia's involvement in World War I at the homestead from 1919 to 1925. Tuggeranong property was leased as a grazing property by the McCormack family from 1927 to 1976. [http://www.tuggeranonghomestead.com.au/html/history.htm#popup]

In 1973, the third of the new towns planned for Canberra was inaugurated at Tuggeranong on 21 February. It was originally planned to house between 180 000 to 220 000 people. Planning for the new town had begun in 1969. The first families moved in to the suburb of Kambah in 1974.

The fifth Canberra fire station opened at Kambah in 1979 to service the new developing satellite city. [http://www.firebrigade.act.gov.au/About_Us/History/] Urban development is consolidated around the artificial Lake Tuggeranong which was constructed in 1987. The Tuggeranong Town Centre is to the west of the lake. It includes a major shopping mall, known as the Tuggeranong Hyperdome (referring to the architectural use of semi-opaque domes in the roof) or by the newer name Centro Tuggeranong. Centro Tuggeranong is managed and part owned by Centro Property Group and is surrounded by government offices and a light industrial area. On the edge of the business district, overlooking the lake is Lake Tuggeranong College, a school catering to years 11 and 12 (16 - 18 years old).

Places of interest

Places of interest in the district are:
*Tuggeranong Hill - a large mountain overlooking the valley.
*Lanyon Homestead - a historic grazing property that also has the Nolan Gallery
*Tuggeranong Homestead - a historic homestead now operated as a café and function or event centre.
*Tuggeranong Town Centre - the town centre

uburbs

References

External links

* [http://www.suburbs.canberra.net.au/regionma/Fdistugg.htm Tuggeranong suburbs map] - links to ACT Government street-level maps.
* [http://www.suburbs.canberra.net.au/html/fsregion.htm Canberra region map] - all districts
* [http://www.abs.gov.au Australian Bureau of Statistics]
** [http://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/[e-mail]/0/66AED2D1E99B9492CA256BBF0001CF69?Open 80525 Tuggeranong (Statistical Subdivision)]
** [http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs%40census.nsf/4079a1bbd2a04b80ca256b9d00208f92/500602ae851edf97ca256bbf0001c9ed!OpenDocument#CensusCounts ACT - Basic Community Profile and Snapshot - 2001 Census]
* [http://www.tuggeranonghomestead.com.au/ Tuggeranong Homestead]
* [http://www.museumsandgalleries.act.gov.au/lanyon/index.asp Lanyon Homestead]
* [http://www.museumsandgalleries.act.gov.au/nolan/index.asp Nolan Gallery]
* [http://maps.google.com/maps?q=canberra&ll=-35.424385,149.088764&spn=0.101109,0.137638&t=k&hl=en Google Maps Satellite Image of Tuggeranong]