The lake at the Mary Lawson Wayside Rest

Finley
Medium-sized service town
Located 673 south-west of Sydney via the Hume, Sturt and Newell Highways and 107 m above sea-level Finley is a tidy and peaceful Riverina town of 2220 people which acts as a service centre for the Berriquin Irrigation Area that surrounds it. The district supplies wool, wheat, fat lambs, rice, dairy products, vegetables, cereals, cattle and pigs for the Sydney and Melbourne markets. Local industry includes a butter factory and foundry.

The Wiradjuri Aborigines, who inhabited the area prior to white settlement, called it 'Carawatha', supposedly meaning 'place of pines'. Squatters from the Port Phillip district moved into the southern and western Riverina in the early 1840s. The town grew on land leased to Benjamin Boyd (see entry on Eden) for his 'Tuppal' station.

The first building on the future townsite was a shepherd's dwelling known as the Murray Hut. It was located at a midpoint between Jerilderie and Tocumwal at the junction of two stock routes adjacent a swamp (now Finley Lake).

Surveyor F.G. Finley surveyed 1.2 million hectares of the Riverina district in the 1870s. Wheat cultivation developed although water shortages were a perennial problem.The railway arrived in 1898.

Additional land was released in 1910 when the government purchased 55 000 acres of Tuppal station and financially backed 127 new farming families. By the 1921 census there were over a thousand people. However, war and the 1914 drought retarded development. After a boom in the early 1920s another drought struck in 1927 followed by the disastrous effects of the depression. However, the construction of the Berriquin Irrigation Area, which began in 1935, proved a long-term boost to local prosperity.

The postwar period was one of prosperity, as the irrigation project continued and the location of the town at the junction of the Newell and Riverina Highways proved a boon.

Things to see:  

An irrigation canal near Finley

Finley and Irrigation
The main street of Finley bridges Mulwala Canal, at 155 km the largest irrigation channel in Australia. At the northern approach to town is the Wheels of Prosperity display, intended as a symbol of water's importance to the town and district. The landscaped foreshores of artificially constructed Finley Lake make for a pleasant picnic or barbecue. There is also a wharf, a boat ramp, a pool, a gardens area and children's play facilities, including a replica sailing ship.

The old log cabin at the Mary Lawson Wayside Rest

Mary Lawson Wayside Rest
Mary Lawson Wayside Rest, at the south end of town, also has playground equipment. Nearby is a log cabin replica of a pioneer home run by the historical society with a display of local historical material, including antiquated pumping equipment and machinery. Rotary Park, in Denison St, contains an Aboriginal canoe tree which once stood by the Murray River.

Loco Dam
A recent development is Loco Dam, reached by turning east at Wollamai St. The rodeo is held at the showground in December, the Finley Aquafest in February and the Agricultural show in September.

	Motels
	Century Motor Inn Newell Hwy Finley NSW 2713 Telephone: (03) 5883 1466 Facsimile: (03) 5883 2166 Rating: ***
	Country Club Hotel/Motel 171 Murray St Finley NSW 2713 Telephone: (03) 5883 1355 Rating: **
	Finley Motel Newell Hwy Finley NSW 2713 Telephone: (03) 5883 1088 Facsimile: (03) 5883 1468 Rating: ***
	Finley Palm Motor Inn Cnr Newell Hwy & Berrigan Rd Finley NSW 2713 Telephone: (03) 5883 2077 Facsimile: (03) 5883 2037 Rating: ***1/2
	Hotels
	Albion Hotel 155 Murray St Finley NSW 2713 Telephone: (03) 5883 1004
	Blighty Hotel 2731 Riverina Hwy Blighty Finley NSW 2713 Telephone: (03) 5882 6225
	Tuppal Hotel Murray St Finley NSW 2713 Telephone: (03) 5883 3331
	Caravan Parks
	Lakeside Caravan Park Newell Hwy Finley NSW 2713 Telephone: (03) 5883 1170 Facsimile: (03) 5883 1170 Rating: **
	Restaurants
	Century Motor Inn Newell Hwy Finley NSW 2713 Telephone: (03) 5883 1466
	Country Club Hotel/Motel 171 Murray St Finley NSW 2713 Telephone: (03) 5883 1355
	Finley Motel Newell Hwy Finley NSW 2713 Telephone: (03) 5883 1088
	Hong Lock Chinese Restaurant 112 Murray St Finley NSW 2713 Telephone: (03) 5883 3090
	Cafés
	Ross & Helen's Snack Bar Murray St Blighty Finley NSW 2713 Telephone: (03) 5883 1169