| Historical notes: | Leeton and the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area:
Leeton and the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area:
The Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA) was the dream of Sir Samuel McCaughey, owner of North Yanco Station and other pastoral leases in this area. Sir Samuel convinced the NSW government to acquire the land and develop the infrastructure for irrigation. In 1912 the water was turned on in the Yanco No.1 area including Leeton (Stoneman).
The NSW Government's plans for the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA) Scheme, commenced with the Barren Jack Dam and Murrumbidgee Canals Construction Act 1906. Construction of the dam commenced in March 1907 with the construction of initial site facilities. Much of the work was to be undertaken by the Public Works Department, which included the construction of canals, weirs, channels and bridges. With this irrigation system in operation, the Government hoped to attract hundreds of new immigrants to a new farming region. The building of a narrow gauge railway to provide access to the site was also commenced in 1907 (McKillop, 2008).
The Murrumbidgee Irrigation Act 1910 established the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Trust. Minister for Public Works, Arthur Hill Griffith, was appointed as first chairman of the Trust in 1911. It was soon obvious that the grand scheme was beyond the competency of the Trust, and so the Irrigation Act 1912 saw the Trust superseded by a Commissioner for Water Conservation and Irrigation (the WC&IC). The first Commissioner, Leslie Wade, was appointed from 1 January 1913 (McKillop, 2008).
Wade's vision for the MIA was "looking to new railways to service the area, new business enterprises to handle and market the produce, processing facilities, power generation, and domestic water supplies and commercial service centres to support the expected population...Two urban designs were required. The town of Leeton, named after the prominent MIA supporter Charles Lee and (the town of) Griffith after Sir Arthur Griffith." (McKillop, 2008).
In 1912 the town of Leeton was a tent town with a basic street layout; most of the population was male, with few families or women. The area was dry, not from drought but due to prohibition and suitable accommodation for officers, visitors and settlers was very difficult to find (Stoneman).
Wade saw an opportunity for his vision in 1913 when Walter Burley Griffin came to Australia after winning the international competition for the design of the new National Capital in Canberra. "For Leeton, Griffin proposed a new town centre around a prominent hill. Two water reservoir towers on top of the hill were to provide the main entrance to the town. A grand central plaza would lead from the towers, complete with ornamental pools and a fountain. The drawings depict large buildings with typical Griffin geometric forms similar to those that grace the Griffin drawings for the national capital" (McKillop, 2008).
"During 1914 Griffin was sending blueprints of the Griffith railway line and was also undertaking the urban design for Griffith, including the terminus for the Barellan to Griffith railway then under construction." Leslie Wade suddenly died on 12 January 1915. With the project's key promoter gone and Australia's involvement in a world war imminent, enthusiasm for the grand project waned (McKillop, 2008).
"Leeton got its circular street pattern and water towers, the first of which was completed in 1915, with their classic Griffin features. For years they were framed by the typical 'outback architecture' of the School of Arts building erected by the WC&IC in 1913. A railway connection was made with Narrandera in 1922 and the infrastructure of a typical Australian rural town emerged over the years" (McKillop, 2008).
Leeton became a settlement for Post World War I migrants and soldiers who came to settle in the MIA. The Yanco to Griffith line opened from Narrandera to Griffith on 6 March 1922 and was used to freight vegetable and horticultural produce from the MIA to Sydney markets and ports (McKillop, 2009).
In June 1921 a goods shed was transferred from Bangaroo to Leeton for use by the Construction Branch. Leeton station opened on 6 March 1922 (ORH, 2009).
Leeton District Office - artefacts in Reception Lobby Showcases:
The artefacts in Showcase No. 1 consist of objects which are associated with the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Scheme, the Water Conservation & Irrigation Commission, and history of the local community. The artefacts include working model used in the planning and construction of the Berembed Weir, and examples of items produced or manufactured locally under Water Conservation & Irrigation Commission, such as bottle fruit can and fruit can labels.
The WC & IC Cannery at Leeton and Yanco started production in 1914 and the produce was marketed until 1935 when the cannery was transferred to Leeton Co-operative Cannery Ltd. |