100 Towns

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.

In the late 1800s Cobb and Co coaches ran regularly along the highways of the country until motor vehicles in the 1900s  killed off the business.  There were Cobb and Co changing stations at  Neurea  and  Bakers Swamp .

Home Rule , located in a farming land near Mudgee has just an old public school, now a private residence.  I wonder where the odd name comes from?

Cudgegong  in the 1870s had a couple of hotels (one of them a Royal), two stores, a school, church and post office. There was mining in the area and it also served as stopping off point for teams carrying wool. By the 1890s there was a butter factory processing local cream but later modern transport brought about its decline. There was little left to the town when it reached its final extinction in the 1980s, drowned by the waters of Windermere Dam. The headstones from the churchyard cemetery have were moved to higher ground and now look over the lake. I'll try to go and see them one day.

Mount David is a small town in the Oberon district.  In the early 1900s it was the location of a major copper mine.  In the 1920s the ore body run out and the mine closed and the town dwindled into the tiny town it is today. There is evidence of some new homes being built and the old church is a residence.  The extensions to it were in progress when we visited this town years ago and seemed to have totally stalled.  It's now up for sale.

Jenolan Caves is a popular tourist attraction in the Blue Mountains wilderness.  The limestone caves have attracted people in droves since their first discovery by white man in the 1830s despite being in a quite inaccessible spot.  Even today the road is steep, winding and narrow. The road comes to a dramatic end running through the Grand Archway and coming out the other side to the iconic Caves House (with a special place in the memory of many honeymooners), cafe and ticket office for tours to a wide selection of caves. Not a town as such, it is a busy spot especially in weekends.  A pleasant place to spend the weekend, though Caves House goes through times of being comfortable and vibrant to being plain run down.  The caves are fun and there are lovely walks by the lake and in the surrounding area.

Hampton is a small village on the road to the popular Jenolan Caves.  Perhaps in the days when the winding road was a more difficult drive Hampton was a welcome rest spot on the way.  Today it has a pub, the remnants of an old cafe and garage, a cluster of houses and two big wind turbines beating over the town.