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'a place that loved a drink, a party and a punt..' So wrote Henry Lawson about Louth.
Louth is a small service town (Pub, fuel and general store) on the Darling River about 100km downstream from Bourke and 100km upstream from Tilpa.
Normally a quiet and sleepy settlement, once a year it is the scene for an classic annual country race meeting in August each Year and attracts travelers form far and wide to the 7 race event.
The town of Louth was created when T.A Mathews established a Hotel to service the river trade and the Cobb & Co coaches that used it as a stop over.
Nearby, the historic Dunlop station was the first sheep station in the world to use mechanical shears
Louth is ideally located for access to the Darling River Run and affords a choice of eastern or western route along the Darling River downstream to Tilpa as well as the upstream section to Bourke and beyond 'Back o Bourke'.
Louth also is the site of an amazing and emotive structure known as ‘The Celtic Cross’, a polished granite 24 feet high cross that dominates the cemetery on the hill overlooking the town.
The cross was construct by the founder of Louth, Thomas Matthews, erected the monument as a perpetual memorial to wife, Mary Mathews, who died in 1866.
The cross would be significant anywhere and is even more so here as it reflects the setting sunlight to the space where the front door of there house every year on the anniversary of her death on August 19.
The monument is no only testament to the love and devotion of a husband for his wife but also the accuracy of navigation technology of the 1800’s as its alignment was reportedly aided by one of the river boat captains of the Darling River.
Anyone visiting Louth can observe the occurrence and the locals have thoughtfully marked the places throughout the year that the visitor can experience the 3 minute lightshow.
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Louth is ideally located for access to the Darling River Run and affords a choice of eastern or western route downstream to Tilpa as well as the upstream section to Bourke and beyond 'Back o Bourke'.
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