Muswellbrook

History

Before European settlement of the region the Wonnarua and Gamilaroi peoples occupied the land. The first European to explore the area was Chief Constable John Howe in 1819, with the first white settlement occurring in the 1820s. The township of Muswellbrook was gazetted on 23 October 1833. To the south, "Forbestown" was established by the sons of Francis Forbes in 1842; the name was changed in 1848 to "South Muswellbrook" to prevent confusion with the town of Forbes.

Heritage listings

Muswellbrook has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

• 7 Bridge Street: Muswellbrook Post Office
• 132 Bridge Street: Weidmann Cottage
• 142–144 Bridge Street: Loxton House
• 178, 180–188 Bridge Street: Eatons Group
• 710 Denman Road: Edinglassie
• Denman Road: Rous Lench
• Hunter Terrace: St Alban's Anglican Church
• Main Northern railway: Muswellbrook railway station

Etymology

"Mussel Creek" (now called "Muscle Creek") was first named by a party of surveyors who found mussels in the small stream while camping along its banks in the early 19th century. The present spelling of Muswellbrook has a disputed etymology. Historians largely subscribe to one of two theories:

1. that the name derives from the Muswell Hill area of London (England), due to the influence of Sir Francis Forbes whose wife, Amelia, was born and schooled in that town; or
2. that the name is a gradual corruption of the original gazetted name "Musclebrook", eventually adopted as the official spelling due to common use.

Population

According to the 2021 census of Population, there were 12,272 people in Muswellbrook.

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 13.1% of the population.
• 84.7% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were New Zealand 1.5%, England 1.0% and Philippines 0.9%.
• 86.9% of people only spoke English at home.
• The most common responses for religion were No Religion 35.6%, Anglican 23.0%, and Catholic 20.2%.

|1921|2789 |1933|3984 |1947|3939 |1954|5635 |1961|5717 |1966|6486 |1971|8125 |1976|7805 |1981|8548 |1986|9988 |1991|10140 |1996|10541 |2001|10010 |2006|10222 |2011|11042 |2016|10404 |2021|10901

Transport

The New England Highway currently passes through the town. A route was selected for a bypass in 2006 but the Australian Government suspended the project in August 2008.{{cite web |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20051205055622/http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/constructionmaintenance/majorconstructionprojectsregional/hunter/muswellbrook/index.html |url-status = dead |archive-date = 5 December 2005 |access-date = 1 May 2007

Rail

Muswellbrook railway station is served by local (Newcastle to Scone) and long-distance rail (Sydney to Armidale and Moree) services. Interstate coaches and local bus services also call at the station.

Muswellbrook lies at the junction of the Main Northern railway line and the Merriwa line, part of a cross country rail line to Gulgong. As such, it formed an important junction, as well as serving the numerous coal mining sidings found within a short distance from the main station building.

Popular culture

The Steely Dan song "Black Friday" from the 1975 album Katy Lied contains the lyrics:

"When Black Friday comes, I'll fly down to Muswellbrook, gonna strike all the big red words from my little black book.

Gonna do just what I please, gonna wear no socks and shoes, with nothing to do but feed all the kangaroos."

Songwriter Donald Fagen explained the lyrics in an interview with Paul Cashmere of Undercover Music; "I think we had a map and put our finger down at the place that we thought would be the furthest away from New York or wherever we were at the time".

Donald Horne spent his early childhood in Muswellbrook and the first volume of his autobiography, The Education of Young Donald, features an extensive description of life in the town in the 1920s and early 1930s.

Muswellbrook is also mentioned in Thomas Keneally's book The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith.

Muswellbrook also features prominently in the Robert G Barrett novel, "The Tesla Legacy".

Annual events

• Blue Heeler Film Festival
• Muswellbrook Carnivale
• Muswellbrook and Upper Hunter Eisteddfod
• Muswellbrook Creative Arts Fair
• NAIDOC Week Art Awards
• Rock'n The Brook
• The Muswellbrook Show
• Noisy Heerler Music Festival (October)
• St Heliers Heavy Horse Field Days

Media

Television

All major digital-only television channels are available in Muswellbrook. The networks and the channels they broadcast are listed as follows:

• Seven (formerly Prime7 and Prime Television), 7two, 7mate, 7Bravo and 7flix. Seven Network owned and operated channels.
• Nine (NBN), 9Go!, 9Gem and 9Life. Nine Network owned and operated channels.
• 10, 10 Drama, 10 Comedy and Nickelodeon. Network 10 owned and operated channels.
• ABC, ABC Family, ABC Kids, ABC Entertains and ABC News, part of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
• SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS World Movies, SBS WorldWatch, SBS Food and NITV, part of the Special Broadcasting Service.

Radio

Muswellbrook has three local radio stations:

• ABC Upper Hunter on 105.7 FM and 1044 AM
• Power FM on 98.1 FM
• 2NM on 981 AM

Other radio stations that broadcast to the town are:

• Radio National on 1512 FM
• ABC NewsRadio on 104.9 FM
• KIX Country on 94.5 FM
• hit106.9 Newcastle on 106.9 FM

Newspapers

The town is served by the local newspaper The Muswellbrook Chronicle.

Schools

• Muswellbrook High School

• Muswellbrook Public School

• Muswellbrook South Public School

• Pacific Brook Christian School

• Richard Gill School

• St James Muswellbrook

Military history

During World War II, Muswellbrook was the location of RAAF No.5 Inland Aircraft Fuel Depot (IAFD), completed in 1942 and closed on 29 August 1944. Usually consisting of 4 tanks, 31 fuel depots were built across Australia for the storage and supply of aircraft fuel for the RAAF and the US Army Air Forces at a total cost of £900,000 (A$1,800,000).

Notable persons

• Kurt Barnes (born 1981), a professional golfer, was born and raised in Muswellbrook
• Brooke Boney (born 1987), entertainment reporter on the Nine Network's breakfast program Today
• James Clifford (1936–1987), an artist, was born and raised in Muswellbrook
• Tommy Emmanuel (born 1955), a virtuoso guitarist, was born in Muswellbrook
• Jamie Feeney (born 1978), a rugby league footballer was born in Muswellbrook
• Wayne Harris (born 1960), a jockey who rode Jeune to victory in the 1994 Melbourne Cup, was born and raised in Muswellbrook
• Shayne Hayne (born 1967), a rugby league football referee, grew up and spent most of his life in Muswellbrook
• Donald Horne (1921–2005), an author and journalist, was raised in Muswellbrook. Much of one of Horne's memoirs, The education of young Donald, published in 1967, was based on his educative years in Muswellbook
• Simon Orchard (born 1986), an Australian hockey player and Olympic medalist, was born and raised in Muswellbrook
• Brydie Parker (born 1999), a rugby league footballer for the Sydney Roosters NRLW side, was born in Muswellbrook.
• Fletcher Baker (born 1999), a rugby league footballer for the Sydney Roosters NRL side, was born in Muswellbrook.
• Brian Wilkinson (Born 1938), an Australian swimmer.

References

References

1. (27 March 2019). "3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2017-18: Population Estimates by Significant Urban Area, 2008 to 2018". [[Australian Bureau of Statistics]].
2. (January 15, 2014). "Muswellbrook Local Court". YouTube.
3. "Muswellbrook".
4. "untitled image". New South Wales [[Department of Primary Industries (New South Wales).
5. "2021 Muswellbrook, Census Community Profiles {{!}} Australian Bureau of Statistics".
6. (27 May 2025). "Contested Hunter Valley solar and battery project next to shuttered open pit coal mine is approved".
7. (11 March 2025). "AGL adds pumped hydro project based around old coal mine to EPBC pipeline".
8. Fiona McBurney. "Aboriginal people of Muswellbrook Shire – Muswellbrook Shire Council".
9. Exercise book Historical notes - hand-written, indexed in back
10. "Muswellbrook Town Historical Walk".
11. {{cite AHD. 106128. Muswellbrook Post Office
12. {{cite NSW SHR. 5045128. Weidmann Cottage
13. {{cite NSW SHR. 5045633. Loxton House
14. {{cite NSW SHR. 5045132. Eatons Hotel & St Vincent De Paul Group
15. {{cite NSW SHR. 5045625
16. {{cite NSW SHR. 5045629. Rous Lench
17. {{cite NSW SHR. 5045125. St. Alban's Anglican Church
18. {{cite NSW SHR. 5012118. Muswellbrook Railway Station and yard group
19. Fiona McBurney. "The naming of our town as 'Muswellbrook'".
20. "2021 Muswellbrook, Census All persons QuickStats {{!}} Australian Bureau of Statistics".
21. "Statistics by Catalogue Number". Australian Bureau of Statistics.
22. "Search Census data". Australian Bureau of Statistics.
23. "Muswellbrook Station". Transport for NSW.
24. "Merriwa Branch". www.nswrail.net.
25. ''Muswellbrook up to the Early 1950s'' Estell, D. [[Australian Railway History. Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin]], April 1997 pp99-106
26. Cashmere, Paul. (8 April 2007). "The Steely Dan Interview: Paul Cashmere Talks to Donald Fagen". Undercover Media Pty Ltd.
27. "HOME – Muswellbrook Shire Council".
28. "Muswellbrook Carnivale... in spring".
29. "Muswellbrook & Upper Hunter Eisteddfod Inc.".
30. "St Heliers Heavy Horse Field Days Inc. – St Heliers Heavy Horse Field Days".
31. "Home – Muswellbrook High School".
32. "Home – Muswellbrook Public School".
33. "Home – Muswellbrook South Public School".
34. "Pacific Brook Christian School".
35. (2021-02-02). "These children, not coal, are the future of mining town Muswellbrook, new school hopes". ABC News.
36. "St James' Primary School, Muswellbrook".
37. "Logistics units". AGPS Press.
38. "Player Profile: Kurt Barnes".
39. Germaine, Max. (1984). "Artists and Galleries of Australia". Booralong Publications.
40. "Tommy Emmanuel".
41. "Jamie Feeney – Career Stats & Summary".
42. "Wayne Harris made Muswellbrook race club life member".
43. Magnay, Jacqueline. (13 June 2007). "Hayne has chosen his side already". [[Sydney Morning Herald]].
44. (2005). "Horne, Donald Richard". Muswellbrook Visitors Centre.
45. (2 August 2010). "Athlete Spotlight". Australian Sports Commission.
46. (2020-06-18). "Brian Wilkinson Results {{!}} Commonwealth Games Australia".