KALARU

In the late 1800s, Kalaru (then known as Tathra Road) was a convenient overnight stopping point for bullock teams transporting cargos between Tathra and Bega. (It was unlikely that any ship would arrive at Tathra early enough in the day for its cargo to be unloaded, and for this to then be loaded onto a wagon to be pulled by bullocks, and for it to be transported all the way to Bega for ‘same day delivery’.) So, a teamsters’ overnight camp, with a small hut and fireplace, developed at Tathra Road…and, in the 1880s, a shop opened that sold ‘essentials’. (Teamsters were to operate along this route until as recently as 1948.)

A post office - which transferred from Kinderlands, Wallagoot Lake - was added to the business and, ‘it became a prosperous post office store’. (This post office closed around 1918 when it was moved to Ike Game’s farm a couple of miles from the small township.) A Wallagoot School also operated at Tathra Road between 1892 and 1912.

A belt of clay was identified in the area in the late 19th century and William (‘Twid’) Stafford started making bricks nearby. In 1927, Lot Stafford (the son of Twid Stafford) established his first brickworks in Kalaru before moving across the road in 1933 to the site of the surviving brickworks.

In 1962 a Twin Lakes BP Service Station and shop opened in the village.

The name ‘Tathra Road’ was officially changed to ‘Kalaru’ in March 1967.