Moama ( or ) is a town in the Riverina district of southern New South Wales, Australia, in the Murray River Council local government area. The town is directly across the Murray River from the larger town of Echuca in the neighbouring state of Victoria, to which it is connected by a bridge. At the 2016 census, Moama had a population of 5,620.
History
Maiden's Punt
The settlement where Moama now stands was founded by James Maiden in the mid-1840s, beginning as a stopping-point for stock and cargo waiting to cross the Murray River by punt. Maiden arrived in the district in 1840; he had been hired to caretake Jeffries' station about from the junction of the Campaspe River and the Murray River. He recognised a business opportunity and travelled to Seymour where he built a punt, which he then transported back to the Murray. The locality where the punt was placed on the river became known as Maiden's Punt. Maiden built a wooden public house, the Junction Inn, for which he obtained a licence in 1847.
During this early period Maiden's punt operated in opposition to another punt, owned by Isaac White, which was worked from the southern bank at Campaspe Junction (now Echuca). However, it was Maiden's punt that captured most of the business.
Moama
A demand for land at Maiden's Punt prompted the Government of New South Wales to lay out a township there, named Moama. The name is derived from a local indigenous word meaning "burial ground". The Moama township was gazetted on 16 December 1851. The post office opened on 1 January 1855 and was known as Maiden's Punt until 1857.
At a land sale in August 1855 James Maiden purchased 10 of the 30 lots sold. Maiden sold the Junction Inn to Jeremiah Rolfe in 1855, but the next year he repurchased it. When applying for a licence he told the Bench of Magistrates that he "intended to conduct it in a very superior manner with reduction of charges." Maiden also intended expanding the hotel, utilising the brick house which was his former residence as accommodation "for the use of gentlemen and their families to and from Melbourne".
The growth of the paddlesteamer as a means for transporting cargo from the 1860s onwards saw both Moama and Echuca grow substantially. Echuca's large wharf and its relatively short distance to Melbourne saw it overshadow its cross-border neighbour.
A traveller passing through Moama in mid-1865 described the township thus: "Here are erected a few straggling houses of wood or brick". By that stage Moama and Echuca were connected by a pontoon bridge, which, though too narrow for drays or coaches, was used for crossing sheep and horses.
Moama retains some impressive historical buildings (circa 1880s), namely the Moama Court House on Francis Street, the former New South Wales Police Force Sergeants official residence in Chanter Street, and the former Bank of New South Wales adjacent to the railway lines on Meninya Street.
Demographics
According to the 2021 Census:
The population was 7,213, constituting of 3,501 (48.5%) males and 3,711 (51.5%) females. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people constituted 3.9% of the population and non-Indigenous constituted for 90.3%. 3,101 (43%) of people have English ancestry, 3,014 (41.8%) have Australian ancestry, 844 (11.7%) have Irish ancestry, 827 (11.5%) have Scottish ancestry and 291 (4%) have Italian ancestry. 6,132 (85%) were born in Australia, 174 (2.4%) were born in England, 56 (0.8%) were born in New Zealand, 42 (0.6%) were born in India, 30 (0.4%) were born in the Netherlands and 28 (0.4%) were born in Scotland.
As for religious affiliation:
Christians constituted 68.2% of the population with the largest denominations being Catholicism (31.2%), Anglicanism (22.3%) and Uniting Church (11%) and other Christians constituted 1.4%. People having no religion accounted for 25.5% of the population. 6% of the population did not state their religion.
Heritage listings
Moama has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: Hunt Street: Moama Historic Precinct
Facilities
Moama currently has a permanent population of about 3,700, although this swells significantly during holiday periods and the Southern 80 Water Ski race, held in February.