Walla Walla Literary Institute (1913) & Soldiers' Memorial Hall (1922)

"The Walla Walla area was home to the Wiradjuri aboriginals who inhabited this area for many thousands of years prior to European settlement.

The explorers Hume and Hovell passed through the area in late 1824 noting its potential for grazing livestock. Squatters first arrived in 1834 and four stations, including "Round Hill" and "Walla Walla" were established by 1845. During the 1860s the bushranger Dan "Mad Dog" Morgan frequented the area holding up the Round Hill Station at nearby Morven. He also established a lookout at a granite outcrop 6 km north of Walla Walla adjacent to the Walla Walla Station and Billabong Creek.

Walla Walla was established in 1869 when 56 settlers of German extraction moved from their home in the Barossa Valley of South Australia in the search for farming land. At that time South Australian farmland was in short supply and the New South Wales government was releasing tracts of fertile land at relatively cheap prices. In all, 56 people made the trek in 14 covered wagons and 2 spring carts, leaving their hometown of Ebenezer in October 1868. This group was led by Father Klemke and it comprised the families of Michael Wenke, Andreas Mickan and Andreas Lieschke; as well as two Klemke families, the Fischer, Terlich and Hennersdorf families and two single men in Ferdinand Schmidt and Wilhelm Luhrs. Ethnically, most of these families belonged to a minority group known as Wends or Sorbs and some had only recently emigrated from the North Eastern German States. Although these settlers first named the township Ebenezer after their hometown in South Australia, its name was changed to Walla Walla (Aboriginal for "place of many rocks") because another township with the same name existed in New South Wales. This was neither the first nor the last trek by German South Australians to the Riverina with other settlements established nearby at Jindera, Bethel, Gerogery, Wallendool (Alma Park), Dudal-Cooma (Pleasant Hills), Mangoplah, Edgehill and Henty.

Walla Walla Post Office opened on 1 February 1878.

The Walla Walla Hotel was opened in the early 20th century by Mr Fredrick Voss, the original publican.

At the turn of the twentieth century, Walla Walla was charactered by its close-knit community which contributed to its preservation of the German language and the old ways. Although the First World War fostered a sense of nationalism (albeit strongly allied to the British Empire) this period was a challenging time for the Walla Walla community due to its ethnicity and the political issues of conscription and disenfranchisement from the electoral roll. According to one view, Walla Walla was reported as 'Berlin' and a 'hotbed of disloyalty'. In all, four local residents, including two Justices of the Peace and members of the Culcairn Shire Council were interned in the Holsworthy Concentration Camp. Tellingly, the honour board at the Walla Walla Soldiers Memorial Hall describes the war as one against 'Prussian Militarism' rather than Germany.

With the outbreak of the Second World War, tensions evident during the First World War did not take long to resurface. This time the attention of the authorities was directed toward the Lutheran pastors in the region, rather than its civic leaders. This was the case because conscription was no longer the issue that it had been in the First World War and some Lutheran pastors had shown pro-German sympathies with the resurgence of Germany. These pastors (including Pastor JTP Stolz from Walla Walla) were questioned and their activities were monitored."

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walla_Walla,_New_South_Wales

Taken in: Australia / New South Wales / Walla Walla (show map)

Taken on: June 1, 2014

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Soldiers' Memorial Hall

Soldiers' Memorial

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Sets appears in: • The Built Environment • New South Wales more » • Public Halls & Mechanics' Institutes etc. « less

Groups appears in: • Australian Images • Libraries and Librarians - Please tag the images you add! more » • Rural Australia • Australian Red Brick Buildings • Trove: Australia in Pictures • Historic Australia 1901-1945 • Flickr Australia • Australian Photographers!!!! • New South Wales • Australian Country Towns • Australia-down-under • Australia on Flickr • ...Australia... • Australian Post Offices, Town Halls & Community Halls • Riverina • Mechanics Institutes, Halls and Libraries • *Australian Photographers* • NSW, Australia • Australian Photoholics - ( www.ausph.com ) • Around Australia • Louisa's Australian Gallery • 1913 • School of Arts, Literary and Mechanical Institutes of Australia • Town Halls,Community Halls & Schools of Arts of Australia and NZ « less

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