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Jacaranda City
Famous for its Jacaranda Trees this stately town of nearly 20,000 people
is located on the banks of the mighty Clarence River, the largest river system
on the NSW North Coast. Other rivers draining into the Clarence include the
Nymboida, Coldstream, Mann, and the Orara. NSW Governor Gipps named the river
the Clarence in 1839. A settlement was established in the same year in what is
now known as South Grafton. A shipyard and other buildings was established. By
1849 10 years after the initial settlement a town plan was drafted and the
settlement named Grafton after the then Duke of Grafton. By 1856 the population
had grown to over 1000 people with schools, police and other facilities already
well established. The town flourished with the discovery of gold in the upper
Clarence catchment and the establishment of dairying and sugar cane growing. Its
location on the river made it an ideal place for the transport of goods via
boat. Railways arrived which affected the amount of shipping in and out the
river port.
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