Tenterfield

Tenterfield is a regional town in New South Wales, Australia.

Tenterfield is a regional town in New South Wales, Australia.At the 2016 census, Tenterfield had a population of 4,066. Tenterfield's proximity to many regional centres and its position on the route between Sydney and Brisbane led to its development as a centre for the promotion of the federation of Australia. The area of Tenterfield was named by German immigrant Sir Tye Cohn, who built Tenterfield station.

Tenterfield's first inhabitants were the Jukembal people who travelled the area from near Glen Innes to Stanthorpe, Queensland.

In 1841, Sir Stuart Donaldson was running 18,000 sheep on a property that he named Tenterfield Station, after a family home, Tenterfield House, in Haddington, Scotland. Donaldson was the first premier of NSW and made biannual trips to Tenterfield to inspect his holdings there, which covered 100,000 acres (400 km2) of unfenced land. Tenterfield Post Office opened on 1 January 1849 and the township was gazetted in 1851 with allotments being sold in 1854. In 1858 gold was discovered at Drake (Fairfield) and shortly afterwards at Timbarra and Boonoo Boonoo. During 1859 an AJS Bank opened and an Anglican church was built the following year. In the 1860s the Tenterfield Chronicle was published, the district court was established; the building of a hospital commenced and a public school was opened. In 1870 the population was less than 900, but the town had five hotels, a school of arts and three churches. The existing Tenterfield Post Office was constructed in 1881.

During World War II, Tenterfield was earmarked as a key battleground if the Japanese should invade Australia. During 1942 thousands of soldiers were set up in emergency camps, unbeknown to the locals, to cope with such an event. Overgrown tank traps and gun emplacements can still be seen on the Travelling Stock Route near the New England Highway. The highway was until the early 1950s the only all-weather road from Sydney to Brisbane.

Tenterfield has a subtropical highland climate, with cold, frosty winters and moderately hot, wet summers. It sits at an altitude of 850 metres (2,790 ft) above sea level, meaning temperatures below freezing in winter are common. Tenterfield averages 47 mornings where the minimum temperature drops below 0 °C or 32 °F each year. The town receives light to moderate snowfalls during severe winters. This only occurs once every 20-30 years, although the town experiences occasional sleet. The nearby Mount Mackenzie (1,287 metres or 4,222 feet elevation) generally receives light, sometimes moderate, snowfall annually. The town's last snowfall occurred during the winter of 2015, although, the most recent snowfall close to Tenterfield was on the 4th of June, 2019, when a low pressure system swept north through NSW. This caused it to snow on Mount Mackenzie and other points above 1,000 metres or 3,280 feet throughout the New England region. Summers are moderately warm to hot, with most days during the summer months reaching 23 °C (73.4 °F) or above, and not dropping below 15 °C (59 °F) overnight. The majority of precipitation occurs as thunderstorms, which can be severe. Tenterfield's highest recorded temperature was 39.9 °C (103.8 °F), which was recorded on 12 February 2017. Its coldest recorded temperature was -10.6 °C (12.9 °F), which was recorded on 10 July 2006.