Our History

How did Culcairn come about?

Culcairn is known as the ‘Oasis of the Riverina’ and was once the home and hunting ground for the Wiradjuri Indigenous people.

The area around present-day Culcairn was not known by Europeans until 1824 when Hume and Hovell passed through the area. In 1878, contracts were let for the construction of the railway line between Wagga Wagga and Albury, as part of the Melbourne to Sydney railway line. The decision was taken to develop a number of towns along its route including Henty, Culcairn and Gerogery. In 1880, the first train operated from what was then known as Round Hill, and what is now known as Culcairn became a 'Railway Town'. In 1891, a magnificent hotel was built to facilitate overnight stops for passengers wishing to divert along the Holbrook or Corowa branch lines. Some of the early settlers to the area were Lutheran farmers who trekked across from South Australia in the mid-1800s. This began a strong Lutheran presence in the Riverina of NSW, and the St Stephen congregation, in Culcairn, is now part of that presence.