What is Binalong?
{{Infobox Australian place | type = town | name = Binalong | state = nsw | image = BinalongNSW.JPG | caption = Central Binalong looking towards the post office and the Hotel Binalong | lga = [[Yass Valley, New South Wales|Yass Valley Shire]] | postcode = 2584 | est = | pop = 543 | pop_year = {{CensusAU|2016}} | pop_footnotes = | elevation= | maxtemp = | mintemp = | rainfall = | stategov = [[Electoral district of Goulburn|Goulburn]] | fedgov = [[Division of Eden-Monaro|Eden-Monaro]] | dist1 = 37 | dir1 = NW | location1= [[Yass, New South Wales|Yass]] | dist2 = | dir2 = | location2= | dist3 = | dir3 = | location3= | coordinates = {{coord|34|40|00|S|148|39|00|E|display=inline,title}} }} [[Image:BinalongNSWStore.JPG|thumb|250px|The general store at Binalong]] '''Binalong''' is a small town in [[New South Wales]], [[Australia]]. It is 37 [[kilometre|km]] north-west of [[Yass, New South Wales|Yass]]. ==History== The [[Indigenous Australian|Aboriginal people]] who lived in the area were part of the [[Ngunnawal people|Ngunnawal]] people. The first [[Europe]]n to visit the area was [[Hamilton Hume]] in 1821. The name of the town is believed to come from either an Aboriginal word meaning 'towards a high place' or from '[[Bennelong]]', the name of a famous Aborigine. Binalong was outside the legal limits of European settlement in New South Wales. However farmers settled in the area before the law changed to allow settlement in 1839. From 1847 there was a [[police]] [[camp]] at Binalong and a [[court]]. The old Cobb and Co [[hotel|inn]] was built at that time as a staging post for [[Cobb and Co]] [[cart|coaches]]. The town was officially listed in 1850. It was an important stop on the way for people going to look for [[gold]] at [[Lambing Flat]]. The school was started in 1861. Gold also meant that there were [[bushranger]]s in the area. The grave of [[John Gilbert (bushranger)|John Gilbert]] is near the town in the field where the police kept their [[ho