Inverell (including Gilgai)
Large and interesting service town on the Macintyre River
Inverell is situated on a bend in the Macintyre River, 590 m above sea-level and 690 km north of Sydney. It has a population of 10 000 and is essentially a service centre to a mixed farming district. Mining has been a staple of the area since the 1870s with tin, sapphires, zircons and diamonds all being commercially exploited. The area is well known as a fossicking district, producing topaz, quartz, silver, diamonds, agate, petrified wood, rhodorite, tourmaline and lead, as well as sapphires, diamonds and tin. The Inverell area has long been a source of much of the world's sapphire supply.
Before white settlement the Jukambal, a sub-group of the Murri people, occupied the land. The first whites in the district were probably convicts who escaped chain gangs in the Hunter Valley. When white settlers arrived the convicts sometimes received pardons in return for acting as guides and interpreters.
Tourist Information
Inverell Tourist Information Centre
Water Towers Complex Campbell St
Inverell NSW 2360
Telephone: (02) 6722 1693
Facsimile: (02) 6722 0104
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