Armidale

Armidale

Armidale, New South Wales, Australia

Armidale, city, northeastern New South Wales, Australia. It lies on the valley slopes of Dumaresq Creek in the New England Range.

Armidale was founded in 1839 by G.J. Macdonald, commissioner of crown lands, who named it for his father’s Scottish baronial estate on the Isle of Skye It developed a pastoral-agricultural economy. The city has become a regional cultural centre with Anglican and Roman Catholic cathedrals, several private and state schools, and the University of New England (established 1954). The New England Regional Art Museum houses the Howard Hinton collection of Australian paintings. For many years the community was the main focus of a movement for a separate New England State; the initiative declined after its defeat in a 1967 referendum, although interest in establishing a new state continued .

Armidale became a town in 1845, a municipality in 1863, and a city in 1885. The city is linked by rail with Sydney, 230 miles (370 km) south, and has an airport. Pop. (2006) Armidale Dumaresq local government area, 23,368; (2011) Armidale Dumaresq local government area, 24,105 .