The first large sawmill on the Richmond River was built at Wyrallah in 1865 by the Breckenridge Brothers of Newcastle, who selected 320 acres on the riverbank near Lismore. Expensive machinery was imported, cottages were built for the permanent mill-workers and many local men were employed. A tramline was erected to a pine ridge nearby and when John Keep joined the firm in 1867 his sailing vessels, the Edith Keep, the Alpha and the Grace Dent, carried the timber to Sydney, although much of it was used in building the new settlements on the Richmond. A private school was started by Mrs Breckenridge in 1866 and a Provisional School was opened in 1867.
A Post Office followed in 1869 and Wyrallah developed quickly. When the surrounding timber had all been cut out an effort was made to attract new settlers. Land was surveyed and an auction sale was held in 1884, but when the mill closed down Wyrallah became a farming centre and many of the former residents moved away.
The name is aboriginal and generally understood as meaning “hungry”.
