Coraki, New South Wales: Travel guide and things to do

Located 740 km north of Sydney via the Pacific Highway, Coraki is an interesting, historic and attractive river port located significantly at the junction of the Richmond & Wilson Rivers. Throughout the nineteenth century the town established itself as the most important river port in the district largely due to the entrepreneurial efforts of William Yabsley and W.T. Yeager.

The first Europeans into the area arrived in the 1830s looking for suitable cedar trees to cut and ship out. They settled around Coraki where there were, at the time, there were good stands of red cedar. Life was hard and they lived in simple rough bark huts which they moved as they shifted from one stand of cedar to the next.

The first permanent settler into the area was William Yabsley who, in 1849, obtained a lease to Brook Station. This was the beginning of the settlement which was eventually to become the thriving port of Coraki. Coraki is an Aboriginal word. No one is sure of its meaning although many have assumed that it was the Aboriginal name for the junction of the two river.

It was entirely due to the endeavours of William Yabsley that the settlement grew. His first undertaking was to build a shipyard which for many years built ships which plied both the Wilson and Richmond Rivers. He also opened a general store providing provisions for people living in the area and conducted a school for both his family and the apprentices who worked in his shipyard. This established a long running family tradition and Yabsleys are now spread out throughout the Department of Education in New South Wales.

By the 1860s Coraki was the major port on the Richmond River and was far more substantial than Lismore. Through the port came the cedar and pine which was being cut up river.

New settlers arrived in the district in considerable numbers in the early 1860s. A street plan for the village of Coraki was drawn up in 1866. In the next two years a general store, the first hotel and a small cedar school building were all constructed on Richmond Terrace. In 1863 W.T. Yeager purchased the first steam tug to work on the Richmond River and established a saw mill, wharves and a shipyard across the river from Coraki. Three years later in 1866 the Reverend John Thom brought the first sugar cane cuttings to the area thus beginning one of the district's major agricultural activities. The town continued to prosper throughout the 1870s with large numbers of ships making the trip from the heads at Ballina up the river to collect the supplies from the wharves. Coraki's importance at this time was partly due to the fact that the Richmond River became shallower upstream and consequently passengers and goods needed to be transferred from ocean going vessels to shallower vessels to be able to reach the towns of Casino and Lismore. There is little doubt that the prosperity of the town at this time was largely due to the entrepreneurial skills of both William Yabsley and W. T. Yeager who had become the most successful shipowners on the Richmond River.

By 1870 the Coraki post office had been completed and in 1881 the thriving town had its own police station. By 1886 the North Coast Steam Navigation Company had established its head office at Coraki and in that same year Coraki was chosen as the place for the publication of the new local newspaper, the 'Richmond River Herald'.

By the 1890s Coraki was the most prosperous town in the district. The first municipal council was formed in 1891, the local School of Arts was opened in the 1893, the first Coraki show was held in 1896 and the town's butter factory was opened in 1898. It looked as though Coraki would dominate the local region but as the twentieth century evolved, and as both Lismore Casino grew in importance (as river transport declined and rail and road grew in significant), so Coraki became a smaller and quieter community. Today it is a small centre located away from the highway but still on the Richmond River. Its appeal is that it offers an insight into one of the great river ports of the 19 th century.

Things to see

Mid-Richmond Historical Society Museum
Located in Adams Street in the old Woodburn Shire Council building this museum provides an interesting array of information about the history of the Coraki district. It is open on Wednesdays from 10.00 a.m. - 3.00 p.m. and Saturday 1.00 p.m. - 4.00 p.m. It can be opened by appointment ring (02) 6683 2089 or (02) 6683 2086.

Yabsley House
This attractive timber building on the outskirts of town was constructed in 1911 and therefore is not the home of the original William Yabsley. In recent times it has been owned by the New South Wales politician Michael Yabsley and used as a guest house. It is a fine example of a handsome timber dwelling and shows the prosperity of the town before the Great War.

Historic Buildings in the Town
Most of the towns historic buildings are located on Richmond Terrace, the Richmond River is on one side of the street and the other side are the Police Station which is located in the former Court House (1888) and was designed by the notable architect James Barnet; the ANZ Bank is in the former E.S. & A. Bank which dates from 1911 and further along the street are the historic Club Hotel and the Coraki Hotel.