Map - One Tree, New South Wales (One Tree)

One Tree (One Tree)
One Tree is a location on the Cobb Highway on the flat plain between Hay and Booligal in the Riverina district of New South Wales, Australia. In 1862 a public house was built there, originally called Finch's Inn and the locality developed as a coach changing-stage and watering-place between the Murrumbidgee and Lachlan rivers. One Tree village was surveyed and proclaimed in 1882, though the location remained as just an amenity on the plain, centred on the hotel.

The existing One Tree Hotel is the second building of that name to occupy the site. The first hotel was destroyed by fire in 1903. The hotel was re-built in the same manner as the original structure (by the provisions of the insurance policy). The licence of the One Tree Hotel was relinquished in 1942 by its last publican, Frank McQuade. The One Tree Hotel is an important historical building, providing a tangible link to the heyday of pastoral settlement in the Riverina.

The name ‘One Tree’ derives from the presence of a large gum tree on the otherwise treeless plain (called the One Tree Plain). The landmark tree was blown down in a storm on New Year's Eve, 31 January 1897.

In September 1862 it was reported that Alexander Finch ("late of Deniliquin") was building "a new public house at the One Tree". The hotel was built by William Davies of adzed cypress-pine slabs. In June 1864 a reserve of four square miles was proclaimed around the "Single Tree" (excised from 'Ulonga' station). A publican's license was granted to Finch in August 1864 for his public house at One Tree (then known as Finch's Inn or Finch's Public House). In December 1865 Alexander Finch was successful in sinking a well at One Tree. A second well, sunk in the first half of 1866 close to the nearby solitary tree, "struck a beautiful freshwater spring which promises to prove inexhaustible".

In June 1866 Finch's "One-Tree Inn" was advertised for sale by public auction at Hay ("in consequence of his wife's illness"). The hotel was described as a "bar, two parlours, six bedrooms, and offices; kitchen, six-stalled stable, and outbuildings", standing on "five acres of purchased land". The One Tree Inn was sold to Simon Moss, a storekeeper from Hay. After the sale to Moss the Publicans' License was transferred to James R. Johnstone, who had previously worked as a superintendent on district pastoral runs. In July 1867 the One Tree Inn was sold to Mr. R. Mahaffey, a pastoralist on 'Walgiers' station on the Lachlan River, with Johnstone continuing to run the establishment as publican.

In December 1869 land was reserved from the 'Ulonga' and 'Overall Plains' pastoral runs "for the Village of One Tree".

 
Map - One Tree (One Tree)
Country - Australia
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Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of 7617930 km2, Australia is the largest country by area in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country. Australia is the oldest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent, with the least fertile soils. It is a megadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates, with deserts in the centre, tropical rainforests in the north-east, and mountain ranges in the south-east.

The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians began arriving from south east Asia approximately 65,000 years ago, during the last ice age. Arriving by sea, they settled the continent and had formed approximately 250 distinct language groups by the time of European settlement, maintaining some of the longest known continuing artistic and religious traditions in the world. Australia's written history commenced with the European maritime exploration of Australia. The Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon was the first known European to reach Australia, in 1606. In 1770, the British explorer James Cook mapped and claimed the east coast of Australia for Great Britain, and the First Fleet of British ships arrived at Sydney in 1788 to establish the penal colony of New South Wales. The European population grew in subsequent decades, and by the end of the 1850s gold rush, most of the continent had been explored by European settlers and an additional five self-governing British colonies established. Democratic parliaments were gradually established through the 19th century, culminating with a vote for the federation of the six colonies and foundation of the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901. Australia has since maintained a stable liberal democratic political system and wealthy market economy.
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