Oberon #29

1. Art deco hall now a craft shop
2. Ramsgate, Victorian private residence in the main street
3. Royal Hotel
4. Rural scenery
5. Lake Oberon
6. Pine forests
7. Mayfield garden, a magnificent grand scale private garden
8. Frosty morning


Oberon is a town that is surviving well due to diversification. In addition to serving as centre for the rural sheep and cattle industry it is a major timber centre with a large amount of the district being cloaked in pine forests. It is also a favoured tourist destination especially if you have a car to explore the nearby villages, take in the splendid rural scenery or perhaps go to the Jenolan Caves and the Blue Mountains wilderness. You could also try trout fishing, gem fossiking or mushrooming in the pine forests.  Its freezing cold winters are also an attraction with occasional snow and frosty mornings almost guaranteed.

The lush countryside is what attracted the early settlers and there was mining in the area.  But unlike other towns Oberon seemed to take longer to get started. It had just 200 people in the 1880s and has grown to 2,700 today.  It is a railway town but that too was later than elsewhere, being on a short branch line from the main western line, constructed in 1923. It was used to transport seasonal vegetables, timber and livestock until is was closed in 1979. They are currently working on reviving this line as a tourist attraction.

Timber is an important industry, first of all in providing native hardwood to the Broken Hill mines in the 1940s to be used as pit props. As that hardwood ran out Pinus Radiata plantations began to be planted and continue today.

A perfect place for a weekend getaway.

View the location of Oberon on the map.