COFFS HARBOUR

town and port, northeastern New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1847 to serve a cedar-lumbering district, it was known as Brelsford until 1861, when it was gazetted as a village and adopted its present name, corrupted from that of a shipbuilder, John Korff. In 1906 it was incorporated into Dorrigo Shire, which became Coffs Harbour Shire in 1957. Before the advent of the railway in 1915, Coffs Harbour was an important coastal shipping outlet for the Bellingen, Dorrigo, and Orara districts. The town comprises Coffs Harbour Jetty (at the artificial harbour) and Coffs Harbour (2 miles west on the Pacific Highway). With air and rail connections to Sydney (274 miles southwest), it has become a seaside resort and commercial centre for an area of banana, vegetable, and dairy farming and fishing. Pop. (1981) 16,020.