100 Towns

Wyangala dam on the Lachlan River was built between 1929 and 1935 and is used for irrigation, flood mitigation and water supply for the large town of Cowra 20 kilometres west. At the foot of the dam wall there is a substantial village with houses (some I assume are weekenders), church, conference centre, school, community hall and country club with 9 hole golf course, tennis courts and lawn bowls.  At the dam itself there is a large number of cabins and camping spots to the whole area has a holiday feel about it. An information centre, kiosk and petrol station serve the campers and local community. Apparently there was an older village of Wyangala lost under the waters of the dam.

Lyndhurst (population 400) began as a rural town in the 1860s, boosted along with gold discovery in 1870. However, it really began to prosper with the arrival of the railway in 1888.  Back then there were  more 30 shops and services. Many of these old buildings can still be seen today. There is a hotel, a general store, church, CWA and soldiers memorial hall and quite a few houses. Lyndhurst was one of the possible sites considered for the new Federal capital which eventually went to Canberra. I'm rather happy it didn't get chosen though it is a rather nondescript country town.

Lucknow has its mining history on proud display with two poppet heads speaking of the towns mining past. Apparently there is a near intact gold stamper battery in one of the sheds that is open to the public. We must stop a while and go look at it one day. The other treasure in this town is an huge second hand shop full of loads of wonderful junk.

Goolma is a small town on a railway line that never happened.  It is still ticking along however with a hotel, general store, couple of churches and a neat and tidy little school.

Ballimore (population 200) is quite a small town with a grain silo, pub,  church, community hall and town park all running in a row beside the highway. For me there was nothing of particular note, just a typical little town by the road.

Wongarbon stretches lazily beside the railway line. There are old shops with the general store still open, a community hall, pub and decent sized school (3 teachers apparently). A couple of old shops facing the railway have been converted to a rather attractive art gallery. With a population of around 500 there are also streets of houses and streets typically lined with old Pepperina trees. It is only 19 kms from the big regional centre of Dubbo but maintains its own character so was a surprisingly interesting diversion from the main road.

Geurie is small town (population 500) around midway between the larger centres of Wellington and Dubbo so I guess began as a wayside spot.  It is on the railway line that is serviced by the daily XPT passenger service from Sydney to Dubbo. I noticed a big grain silo beside the railway line too.  I am sure that also played a part in its history. The town today has shops, a swimming pool, community halls, sports fields and of course houses.  It seems like a nice well functioning community.

Windyer is an old gold mining town of which there is little left. Parts of the town are spread over quite a distance along the road which gives some indication that it was once a substantial settlement but today is home to about 50 people. In the main cluster there is is a hotel, a church, a sports field, some houses and a rather nice camping ground. A good place to spend a weekend for those the like to camp out or stay in cabins. We stayed on a frosty night in a cosy cabin and had a great time.

Wattle Flat started as a farming village that was boosted along by the gold rush in the 1850s when tens of thousand descended on the area.  After that it settled down into the sleepy village it is today. There are old miners cottages, stone churches, a school and general store. It looks like the kind of place that could be nice to spend a weekend to explore.

Hill End was at the heart of the first big 1850s gold rush in NSW.  At its height there were up to 30,000 miners in the area which boasted as many as 50 hotels.   But is was boom and bust for this town. By the turn of the 20th century the population had dwindled to just 500. It may well have disappeared but in the 1960s its was proclaimed a historic site and placed under the care of the National Parks and Wildlife Service which began preserving and restoring the buildings. Today is survives with just a small population of around 150 people and is essentially a tourist attraction. It's quite lovely and feels authentic not staged.  Well worth a visit.

Hargraves is the man that started the gold rush in NSW by finding gold near Bathurst.  I assume this town is named after him, though while it is in the general vicinity it is not where the rush began. There was however gold found in the area a little later and a couple of thousand miners soon followed. The village has never been large with 60-70 houses in the 1850s and is still a bit off the beaten track. This may change now there is sealed road all the way through to Hill End making for a very interesting drive from the tourist town of Mudgee through to the old gold towns of Hargraves, Hill End and Sofala. Today there are still quite a few houses and a general store.

Bylong is a small town at the end of a beautiful valley of lush farmland watered by a nice river.  The Bylong Valley Way is a truly lovely drive.  Don't miss it.

When I was researching to find out more about this town which I photographed some years ago I found a newspaper article of September 2011 declaring a wake for the town which was being bought up by a mining company with just a few people left to go. So I wonder if it's there any more.  It wasn't totally tiny or dead, just decaying.

Cargo is a small town (population 250) in the central west aboutn 37kms from Orange. It started as a gold mining town and back then in the late 1860s boasted a population of 7000, shops a d flour mill and other enterprises.  Today it is a blink and you will miss it sized town.

Mandurama started in 1876 as a private village to house the workers from Coombing Park, a large rural property in the area. It is a small town (population 300) where the history lingers.  The highway passes through this town and it is so easy to just rush through (I have done so myself) but do yourself a favour, stop and linger a while.

Woodstock is a beaut little country town (population 200).  A backwater with many of its old buildings intact.  Its brief period of prosperity came with the gold rush and arrival of the railway, today it seems to  snooze in the western sun.

The small town of Cassilis is a real gem for old town lovers.  There are buildings of various different eras all with a patina of age and untouched by modernisation. Apparently the whole village is heritage listed and many of the structures listed as significant. It is also set in lovely farming country and was established as a service town for the rural area back in the 1840s.  

Five years ago 1. Old general store 2. Church 3. Worker's cottage Today 4. Former general store 5. Where once there was a church and cottage 6. Current day worker's accomodation Ulan is one town that doesn't appear to have benefited from the mining boom.  It is over the road from a big coal mine.  When we visited some years ago it was small and down at heel.  Just like so many of the towns in this region the old general store looked like it has long closed.  Over the road there was a neat little church and the aging but attractive workers cottage.  A school, hotel and small cluster of houses completed the scene. Today the general store is smart and repurposed.  But over the road the land is bare! The school and hotel are still operating.

O'Connell started as a wayside point on the road between Sydney and Bathurst. It is still a pleasant spot to linger. The hotel is always busy, the old Catholic church serves as a Bed and Breakfast, the tennis court looks like it has had busier days. It's the home town of Fish River Roasters so if you are looking for a good cup of coffee stop by at the cafe next door.

Tarana is another railway town and the junction of a short 24km branch line to Oberon.  It's a tiny settlement set in beautiful rolling farmland. Today there is a church, another church that is now a residence, an artist's studio in the old schoolhouse, a closed cafe, a few houses and the old pub which appears to be doing a good job of catering for tourists. There are numerous rural retreats in the area where you can spend a weekend away from the city.  I think that would be very pleasant.