Artwork memorialises long-gone 'Tin Town' settlement in western NSW

Standing tall on two large monolithic slates in Western NSW are the names of 31 families who once lived in a long-gone town camp.

May Welsh raised seven of her children in what was called "Tin Town" and was one of the last residents to move out.

Now her family's name is etched into a remembrance site for the largely Aboriginal town camp, near Warrena Creek outside Coonamble.

"It means a lot [to me] because my mum and dad used to live here and a lot of friends and relations and that," Ms Welch said.

The slates are part of a regional art trail to commemorate the beauty of the shire's nature and Indigenous history.

"It recognises that this part of Coonamble was once part of the community," Coonamble Regional Art Trail project coordinator Andrew Hull said.

"There's nothing here now but there's a historical marker that will forever tell the story of Tin Town."

Marking the former settlement

The town camp was one of many reserves outside regional towns in the 1900s.

It was established around the 1940s, with the name Tin Town coming from the materials people used to create homes.

"People created their homes from bits of corrugated iron and tin and what they could," Mr Hull said.

"Over the years, more substantial homes were built."

The site was eventually decommissioned in the late 1970s and the homes bulldozed.

Following community consultations, the decision was made to place the slates at the empty former site of the settlement.

"It's the site it needs to be at," Mr Hull said.

Despite the settlement not having running water or electricity, Ms Welsh said she preferred the life in Tin Town.

"I still would have rather been back here though; too much going on in town,"

she said.

Former residents including Ms Welsh and their descendants gathered to mark the unveiling of the slates.

Ms Welsh said she thought the slate would encourage future generations to come and ask questions about the settlement.

"Especially with the young kids that come down and read them," she said.

Using art to remember

The slate is part of Coonamble's Regional Art Trail with other projects in the surrounding towns of Gulargambone and Quambone.

The artwork was created by Ian Marr, who spent his childhood on a station near Wilcannia.

"It's about remembering and it's about where we have lived and loved and had their wonderful lives like this old community here," Marr said.

"Inscription in stone like this is a way of making a readable history, especially in this case for the families.

"It's about giving descendants somewhere to come and somewhere to mark the lives of their ancestors."

Other projects include two galahs made of chicken wire at the entrance to Gulargambone, a mural in Coonamble's Smith Park and a Wailwan contemplation area.

Marr said he hoped the slate will remain there for generations to come.