Stokers Siding, New South Wales


Stokers Siding is a village located in the Tweed Shire in north-eastern New South Wales, Australia, near the Burringbar Range and Mount Warning. It has been described as an "idyllic village".

Demographics

In the, Stokers Siding recorded a population of 655 people, 50.5% female and 49.5% male. The median age of the Stokers Siding population was 44 years, seven years above the national median of 37. Of people living in Stokers Siding, 78.3% were born in Australia. The other top responses for country of birth were England 5.4%, India 2%, New Zealand 1.8%, Germany 1.7%, Netherlands 1.7%, and 12.6% other countries. Of the population, 86.1% spoke only English at home; the next most common languages were 2.8% Punjabi, 1.4% German, 0.8% Vietnamese, 0.6% Dutch, 0.6% French, and 5.6% other languages.

History

The original inhabitants of the area were the Bundjalung people. From 1861 to 1880, the Robertson Land Acts opened up large areas of NSW to farming, and in 1882 Joseph Stoker purchased 600 acres in what was then known as Dunbible Creek. The village developed with the coming of the train line to Murwillumbah and was originally known as Dunbible Siding, although this was eventually changed to Stokers Siding. In 1974, the NSW Government, as part of budget cuts, closed the railway station, with trains going directly to Murwillumbah. In recent years, the village has been home to a thriving arts community.