The history of Rankins Springs is a story of two settlements 10 kilometres (6 miles) apart. The earlier locality was situated near a water source at the junction of several roads and operated essentially as a hotel, store and post-office, with adjoining paddocks on freehold land. The later village of Rankins Springs developed around the terminus of a railway branch line completed in 1923.
The original settlement The site of the original township is 10 km (6 mi) north-east of its current location, off the Rankins Springs Road near a narrow gap in the Conapaira Range. The name of the locality probably refers to Arthur Ranken, a pastoralist with extensive holdings in New South Wales, including the “Cunimbla” run south of the
Lachlan River (in the vicinity of present-day Forbes) which he had occupied by the late 1840s. or the Rankin Brothers that owned the nearby Ballandry Station. In common with other Riverina pastoralists, Ranken supplied stock to the Victorian market (a trade that escalated from the mid-1850s as the population increased in the wake of the Victorian gold-rushes). The “Rankin’s Springs” location probably got its name as a place where water could be reliably found on a
stock-route across the dry country between the Lachlan and
Murrumbidgee rivers. The location of the
springs at the foot of the Conapaira Range is nearby to a break in the hills, an ideal place for stock and vehicles to cross the rocky range. Permanent settlement at the Rankin's Springs locality was established in 1869.In April 1872 a publican's licence was issued to John Dwyer for the Rankins Springs Hotel. In November 1873 the licence was transferred to William Blood, who held it only briefly. In July 1874 the publican's licence was transferred to James Graham who held the licence during the next fourteen years until June 1888 (apart from a period from March 1881 to October 1882 when the licence was transferred to Graham's brother-in-law John King). A post-office was established at Rankins Springs on 1 September 1875 with James Graham as postmaster.Weekly mail services were established linking Rankins Springs post-office with
Narrandera (via
Barellan) and with Wollongough (modern
Ungarie). The post-office was located in a separate building that functioned as a store. On 12 February 1887 the mail coach travelling from
Cudgelligo (Lake Cargelligo) to
Whitton stopped at Rankins Springs to collect mail, before proceeding on its way. Soon after leaving Rankins Springs the driver “pulled up to open the gate at the Four Mile” when “a masked man appeared with a rifle, stuck him up, and asked him for the mail bags, pointing the gun at him at the same time”. After the robbery was reported two policemen from Darlington Point and Whitton arrived to investigate the crime. After gathering material and circumstantial evidence the constables arrested John King, a resident of Rankin's Springs and brother-in-law of the publican and postmaster, James Graham. King was taken in custody to Hay. He was tried at the Hay Quarter Sessions in March where he was found guilty by a jury and sentenced to “ten years penal servitude”. The “permanent spring of fresh water” on the freehold land adjoining the hotel maintained its flow during the 1888–89
drought that devastated the Riverina region.In an advertisement for a future lease of the hotel the owner (Alex. Smith of Roto) stated he intended “to erect new and suitable premises (consisting of stone hotel and kitchen, also store and post office of stone, three detached bedrooms, of timber, also commodious stable of timber, and necessary out-offices)”. The building of the stone-built hotel premises was expected to be completed in early 1893. In July 1926 the growing settlement of Rankins Springs, developing alongside the recently completed railway terminus, was described in the following terms: ::The village of Rankins Springs, at the head of the railway, is growing fairly rapidly. There is a population of about 120 in the village. There are a number of buildings there, and others are being erected, including a public hall, garage, baker's shop, and store. A series of meetings of the Hotel Licensing Board were held in 1926 and early 1927 at
West Wyalong to determine the status of the licence of the Rankins Springs Hotel at the original location (north-east of the developing village at the railway terminus). It was eventually decided to transfer the licence to a new hotel to be erected on land acquired at Rankins Springs village by the hotel owner, John Baxter. The new hotel, named the Rankins Springs Hotel and described as "an up-to-date two-storey brick building", was completed by September 1928. A police station was opened at Rankins Springs in October 1928. On 31 May 1939 a fire "completely gutted" the Rankins Springs Hotel. The fire had started early in the morning in a billiard room adjacent to the hotel. The flames, fanned by a strong breeze, quickly spread to the top-storey of the main building with the volunteer fire fighters hampered by a “lack of fire-fighting appliances and water”. After the fire the licensee Fred Lucks (or Luks) carried out his business in temporary premises. A new hotel was erected at a cost of £7000 and opened in early 1941. It was “a two storey building, containing 17 bedrooms, two parlors, two lounge rooms, several bathrooms”, with “hot water connected throughout”. The new hotel, named the Conapaira Hotel, boasted a “new and modern bar which has an excellent refrigeration service” provided by a £700 “electric plant”. In 1951 a film titled
Rankins Springs is West was released by the Shell Company of Australia to promote “modern
kerosene burning appliances for country folk”. Described as the story of a typical Australian country town “where city facilities of gas and electricity are not available”, the film depicts “the every day story of life of local residents”. The film was shown in country centres via the Shell Company's mobile film unit and advertised as affording the opportunity “of seeing methods by which modern kerosene burning appliances can provide even the most remote home with city standards of comfort and convenience”. In 1974 the NSW Government carried out massive cut-backs in country rail services which included the cessation of the train passenger service to Rankins Springs. In December 1982, in the midst of a major drought, the
Canberra Times published an article representing Rankins Springs as “a township that is hanging on to life”. The village was described as a “service town for the graziers around and its main features are the petrol station, the post-office, the hotel and the caravan park”. It was observed that with improved roads “and the lure of better shopping in Griffith” the township “had been pared back to essential services”. Mrs. Dulcie Wood, who had been Rankins Springs’ post-mistress since 1967, said “the town offered little for young people who had left school”, with many having to leave the area. In 2004 the railway grain freight service from the village ceased when the Barmedman to Rankins Springs branch line was closed. In 2008 a water treatment plant and reticulation system for the village of Rankins Springs was completed, providing clean drinking water to the community. Residents had previously relied on raw water sources such as rainwater or untreated
bore water, supplemented by transported supplies of potable water. ==Natural environment==