Walla Walla
Overview
‘The Trek’ party arrived in the Walla Walla area from Ebenezer, South Australia in January 1869. A party of eight families consisting of 56 people, they came to take up land being allocated by the NSW government. First called Ebenezer after their South Australian home, this was changed to Walla Walla (Wiradjuri for place of many rocks).
The German heritage survives today with Walla Walla home to the Zion Lutheran Church. Built in 1924, it is the largest Lutheran Church in New South Wales and seats almost 600 people. Standing close by is a faithfully restored replica of one of the German wagons that made ‘The Trek’.
Walla Walla today is a busy agricultural and manufacturing centre that still retains its quiet country image. Locally manufactured sheds are still being produced on the site of the famous old Heppner Wagon Factory. Walla Walla provides many family and sporting facilities such as football, cricket, netball, bowling, croquet, swimming and tennis, as well as the restored Walla Walla Literary Institute and Memorial Hall which caters for community events including plays, concerts, dinners, weddings and meetings. North of Walla Walla is the popular Morgan’s Lookout and the high conservation Gum Swamp Reserve.
