History of Gilgandra Shire

Indigenous History

Gilgandra is Aboriginal for 'long water hole', and the traditional custodians of our ancient land describe Gilgandra as being a meeting place between the Wiradjuri, Kamilaroi & Wailwan nations.

Town of Windmills

In times gone by, Gilgandra was know as the town of windmills, as it’s skyline was dotted with windmills. By the 1950’s there were over 300 windmills pumping water. In 1966, Gilgandra moved to an articulated water system (town water) and with the invention of the water pump, the windmills have slowly disappeared. To date there is only 1 working windmill left in the township of Gilgandra, with many more located on farms around the district. There are however over 10 non working windmills in the Gilgandra township. 

Coo-ee March

The famous 1915 Coo-ee March started from Gilgandra when “35 men set off from Gilgandra to march to Sydney to help in the WW1 effort". 

Find out about more of this famous recruitment drive at the Coo-ee Heritage Centre or visit the Gilgandra Diggers website. 

The aim of the Gilgandra Diggers website is to collect and record stories of the men and women connected to Gilgandra & District who served in WW1. You may also like to visit their Facebook page. 

General History

The town was proclaimed in 1888.