The Town of Old Gundagai

Homes near the flood waters, Gundagai, New South Wales, 1900 [picture] / Charles Gabriel

The original town of Gundagai was built on a floodplain of the Murrumbidgee immediately south of the site of the current town. This was in spite of the warnings of local indigenous people that the site was subject to major floods. 

In 1852, the town was destroyed by just such a flood with the loss of at least 80-100 lives. It remains worst flood disaster in Australia’s history. The 1852 flood, as well as an earlier flood in 1844, were notable for the fact that four local Aboriginal men risked their lives to rescue at least thirty European men, women and children from the floodwaters.

Although there has been a significant amount of disturbance to the site in the 150 years since the flood, the greater part of the area has never been rebuilt on. The site now contains a number of surface archaeological features, including the foundations of the National School, a cellar depression marking the site of the town’s main store and post office, and various other depressions and surface remains that indicate the sites of former shops and dwellings. 

The original grid of streets can also be traced on the ground, while a depression fifty metres long and four metres wide marks the alignment of the original Sydney-Port Phillip Road dating from the mid-nineteenth century. The site also includes an Aboriginal bora ring, Aboriginal scarred trees and 1840s surveyor’s tree.