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Kempsey is a town in the Mid North Coast region
of New South Wales, Australia and is the council
seat for Kempsey Shire. It is located 15 kilometres
inland from the coast of the Pacific Ocean where the
Pacific Highway and the North Coast railway line
cross the Macleay River. It is roughly 345
kilometres north of Sydney.
The indigenous inhabitants of the Macleay Valley are
the Dunghutti People. During the settlement of the
valley they were massacred in large number, and
later suffered from segregation and racism
Enoch William Rudder is credited with founding the
settlement. He arrived from Birmingham in 1834 and
bought land on the southern bank of the river in
1836, at what was then the limit of authorized
settlement (the boundary of County Macquarie). He
was initially attracted by redcedar cutting
opportunities but planned also to profit by selling
parts of his land. He had riverside blocks surveyed
and established a private town, with the first
blocks sold in November 1836. He called it Kempsey
because the surrounding areas reminded him of the
Kempsey Valley in Worcestershire. The collapse in
redcedar prices in the early 1840s nearly led to the
failure of the town.
The main (and most flood-prone) part of Kempsey was
founded by John Verge, sub-dividing a grant on the
flood-plain opposite Rudder's settlement. In 1854, a
government town was surveyed at West Kempsey and
government facilities moved there when it became
clear that no town would form around the police
station and courthouse at Belgrave Falls. Rudder's
settlement was re-named East Kempsey.
Kempsey initially flourished as a centre for logging
and sawmilling. Large reserves of Australian
redcedar Toona australis, sold in Britain and the
USA (as 'Brazilian mahogany') were extracted down
until the 1920s, and with greater difficulty until
the 1960s, by which time the resource was
effectively exhausted. Dairying was the major
industry in the area until the 1960s, with a Nestlé
Milo factory at nearby Smithtown, and several cheese
and butter factories. The area now subsists on a
declining beef industry and tourism.
Despite a period of economic stagnation in past
decades compared to nearby coastal centres of
growth, Kempsey has a growing local economy based on
tourism, farming and service industries. As a local
centre it has many shops and services including
three major supermarkets, a department store and
fast food chain stores such as Subway. A large
industrial estate is located in South Kempsey and is
the site of the Akubra hat factory and former King
Gee clothing company.
A Coles Supermarket development (known as the
Riverside Plaza) has been built recently in Kempsey
and is situated where the Tattersals Hotel and
various small businesses were in Little Belgrave
Street. It consists of a Coles supermarket, a Target
Country, 12 speciality stores, and a large cafe.
This shopping centre opened on December 6, 2008.
Growing industries include wineries and nut
production. Kempsey is a service centre for the
nearby coastal resorts of South West Rocks, Arakoon,
Hat Head, and Crescent Head, which are popular
places for retirement and holiday-makers alike.
Government buildings such as the council chambers,
library and several offices - are located west of
the North Coast Railway line in West Kempsey. This
area is not subject to the flooding that the CBD
occasionally sees and is seen as a second business
district with a variety of businesses and banking
facilities.
Kempsey has a variety of schools both large and
small, government and independent. There are five
high schools; Kempsey High School (government)
located in West Kempsey largely servicing students
living north of the Macleay, Melville High School
(government) in South Kempsey servicing those south
of the river and the beachside communities, St
Paul's College (Catholic), Kempsey Adventist School
and the Macleay Vocational College |
