Nimmitabel is a small town in the Monaro region in southeast New South Wales, Australia, in the Snowy Monaro Regional Council local government area. At the , Nimmitabel had a population of 320. Etymology Nimmitabel means "the place where many waters start or divide" in the local Aboriginal language. Many various spellings were adopted for the town, including: Nimmytabell (1837), Nimmitabool (1841), Nimmittybel (1844), Nimmitabel(1845), Nimmitybelle, Nimithybale, Nymytable (all in 1848), Nimmitabil(1851), Nimitabille and Nimithy Bell(1856), Nimaty-Bell(1857), Nimmitabel(1858) Geography The town is south of Cooma and west of Bega. Nimmitabel is on a stretch of highway shared between the Snowy Mountains Highway (HWY B72) and the Monaro Highway (HWY B23). It is on the southern end of the Great Dividing Range, at the west of the Monaro Range, and lies west of the Wadbilliga National Park. The area around Nimmitabel has the only true chernozem soil in Australia, a very rich, fertile and dark colored soil. Climate Nimmitabel has a cool maritime climate (Köppen Cfb) with mild summers and cold, frosty winters, with evenly-spread moderate rainfall throughout the year. Frosts occur regularly during autumn, winter and spring, and less commonly in summer. It is decently sunny, with 102.2 clear days annually. Because of its elevation and southerly latitude, several snowfalls can be expected each year from May through to October; on rare occasions, snow flurries may even occur in December (early summer). History 1840 Locals started calling the village Nimoitebool 1845 Appears on Townsend's map as Nimmitabel 1858 Church was built 1857 Renewal of licence for hotel 1858 Post office arrives 1861 Bell's Store 1863 Separate Courthouse built 1865 Geldmacher builds windmill 1866 Cameron's Store opens 1869 Nimmitabel Public School opens 1912 Railway arrives 1921 Area's first saw-mill opens 1959 Used as location for multi-Oscar nominated film The Sundowners 1986 Railway closes Gallery References External links Aerial photo of Nimmitabel from Terraserver Information about Nimmitabel, including history and photos Some history from Peter Goed, particular focus on the 1950s Article: "The Day the Stars Came to Nimmitabel..The Making of the Sundowners" by Peter Goed @ Cooma-Monaro website (includes photos from the making of the film in 1959) Towns in New South Wales Snowy Monaro Regional Council Bombala railway line