BEMBOKA

The first European settlers in the Bemboka area were squatters grazing sheep and cattle on crown land. The first purchases of land by selectors occurred in 1862.

Settlement occurred in two adjacent villages – Colombo, and the private subdivision of Lyttleton. The two towns remained relatively isolated until the bridle trail on Brown Mountain, which was used to carry post was upgraded in 1888 or 1889 to take vehicles, providing an effective means of descent from the Monaro to the coastal plain. Colombo was regazetted as Bemboka in 1894, and Lyttleton was incorporated into the village in 1923.

From 1904 to 1911, the town had its own weekly newspaper, the Bemboka Advocate. It was also the location of the former Mumbulla Shire administration offices from 1906 until the Bega Valley Shire was formed in 1981.

The town's economy is based on dairying. In the late 1890s there were six known butter and cheese factories in the area. These were superseded by cooperatives, with the Bemboka Co-operative Factory at the east end of town remaining in business until 1980. During the 1980s and 1990s, the old cheese factory building was used by Bemboka Handmade Paper Pty Ltd to make quality handmade paper that was marketed worldwide.

Bemboka is notable for retaining most of its older timber buildings. These include the stores which once lined the main street, some of which are now used as private homes. The original Bemboka Pie Shop, built in 1930, still operates as a bakery and pie shop.

In the surrounding state forests, woodchipping and logging was a major industry until the late 1980s, when activism by conservationists resulted in the reservation of 15,300 hectares as Bemboka National Park. In 1997, this area was merged into the South East Forests National Park.

For a small community, the people of Bemboka have a history of working together to achieve big things. From 1956–1967, the village ran its own weekly picture show in the School of Arts Hall, using the school’s 16mm projector, to raise money to build the current Bemboka Memorial Hall. During the 1970s, the village raised funds through housie nights, catering and grants to build a swimming pool in the town.