Grafton, New South Wales

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Grafton is reachable by road from Sydney and Brisbane on the Pacific Highway (Highway 1)

Location of Grafton in New South Wales (red)

Grafton ([29°41′S 152°56′E]), (population 17,110), is a small cathedral city on the northern east coast of New South Wales, Australia. Situated on the Clarence River, Grafton is located approximately 640 kilometres north of the state capital, Sydney and is the seat of the Clarence Valley Council, which was established in 2004.

In 1851, Governor FitzRoy officially named the town "Grafton", after his grandfather, the Duke of Grafton, a former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Grafton was proclaimed a city in 1885. Local industy is chiefly agricultural in nature, with sugar and farming predominating.

The town is also known for its interesting double-decker road/railway bridge, opened in 1932, completing the standard gauge rail connection between Sydney and Brisbane.

Contents

1 Culture
2 Notable buildings
3 Transportation
4 Born in Grafton
5 Radio Stations
6 References
7 External links
8 See also

Culture

Grafton is also known as the Jacaranda City, in reference to its tree-lined streets. The Jacaranda Festival is held here in October and November. The festival runs for about 2 weeks. Most of the local people get into the spirit of the festival with the main street being closed on the city's public holiday, falling on the last Thursday of October or first Thursday of November, known as "Jacaranda Thursday", to make way for street entertainment. Each year, a Jacaranda Queen is announced. This tradition dates back to the beginning of the festival. The Queen is chosen from about 6 female contestants, and is judged by the Jacaranda Queen Committee. The judging of the contest is based largely on community involvement. Also, the contestant who raises the most money for charity is crowned the "Holiday Princess". Each year, the central 'market square' is a buzz of activity for the crowning ceremony. Although some believe this tradition is dated, most locals still enjoy and look forward to the festival every year.

The people of Grafton have a large interest in country music. Local artist, Troy Cassar-Daley [link], received 4 Golden Guitar awards in the 2006 Tamworth Country Music Awards - The largest and most prestigious country music awards in Australia. At the same awards event, Samantha McClymont, the 2005/2006 Grafton Jacaranda Queen also received an award for her country music talent.

A vision of Grafton's Jacaranda trees is immortalised in Australian music culture in Cold Chisel's song Flame Trees. The song was written by Chisel keyboard player Don Walker who spent most of his childhood in Grafton, inspired his memory of a girl whom Walker had known in his youth. The reference to Flame trees istead of Jacarandas is from a television miniseries, The Flame Trees of Thika, starring Hayley Mills, who was once romantically connected to Walker.

Notable buildings

Christ Church Cathedral, designed by John Horbury Hunt was opened in 1884 and is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Grafton.

Schaeffer House is a historic 1900 Federation house and contains the collection of the Clarence River Historical Society which was formed in 1931.

Transportation

The Grafton Bridge over the Clarence River showing Bascule span lifted to let shipping through. (Postcard from about 1932; The "Southern Cross" aeroplane has been added to the photograph.)

The Murwillumbah - Byron Bay -Lismore railway (opened in 1894) was extended to north Grafton in 1905. The North Coast Line reached South Grafton from Sydney in 1915. Pending the opening of the combined road and rail bascule bridge in 1932, Grafton had a train ferry to connect the two railways.

Born in Grafton

Sir Earle Page (8 August 1880 – 20 December 1961), Prime Minister of Australia, 1939
Brent Livermore (July 5, 1976), Australian field hockey midfielder

Radio Stations

2GF 1206 AM/103.9 FM (commercial)
FM 104.7 (commercial)
JJJ 91.5 FM/96.1 FM
ABC Northern Rivers 738 AM/94.5 FM
Classic FM 97.9 FM/95.3 FM
Radio National 99.5 FM/96.9 FM
Racing Radio 101.5 FM
Life FM 103.1 (community)

References

External links

http://www.tropicalnsw.com.au/aaa_site/places/towns/grafton.html
http://www.nor.com.au/community/museums
http://www.geocities.com/tim_fisherturville/grafton.htm

	Cities of New South Wales
Capital:	Sydney
Cities:	Albury \| Armidale \| Bathurst \| Blue Mountains \| Broken Hill \| Cessnock \| Coffs Harbour \| Dubbo \| Gosford \| Goulburn \| Grafton \| Griffith \| Greater Taree \| Hawkesbury \| Lake Macquarie \| Lismore \| Lithgow \| Maitland \| Newcastle \| Orange \| Queanbeyan \| Shellharbour \| Shoalhaven \| Tamworth \| Wagga Wagga \| Wollongong