Illabo Post Office opened on 1 July 1879.[3] A railway station on the Main South railway served the town between 1878 and the 1970s.[4] A grain silo remains in use. The town name is said to derive from an Aboriginal word meaning "where", but other sources derive it as a clipping of billabong.[5][2]
Their daughter Jean Main married Clive Caldwell in 1940[6] and lived in Illabo for several years after Caldwell became one of Australia's leading fighter aces of WWII and was known as "Killer Caldwell",[7] a household name throughout Australia.
Hugh Main, George's brother, also a horse breeder but much better known as the local MLA 1920–1938, had an adjacent property, part of "Retreat",[8] and has been referred to as "Retreat East", roughly equidistant from Bethungra.
↑"Archived copy"(PDF). Archived(PDF) from the original on 23 March 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
↑"Breeding Notes By Wolaroi". The Referee. No.1596. New South Wales, Australia. 1 August 1917. p.7. Retrieved 8 July 2019– via National Library of Australia.
