Molong is a small town in the
Central West region of
New South Wales
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, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
, Australia, in
Cabonne Shire.
History
The name Molong comes from the
Aboriginal word for 'all rocks'.
William Lee of Kelso is said to have had cattle in the area by 1819. He later held property just north of present Molong, around Larras Lee. In 1826, a military and police outpost was established at Molong, on
Governor Darling's orders, as a step in opening up the government stock reserve west of the Macquarie River for settlement. For its first twenty years the settlement was at a site approximately east of the current location. The present village of Molong was officially gazetted in March 1849.
In 1845, Copper was discovered at Copper Hill, just north of the town.
[
The Historical Museum is housed in a former hotel (1856), built by rubble-mason James Mortal, who sold it in 1861 to John Smith of Gamboola. Smith let the building to a series of publicans and it later became the residence and surgery for a series of doctors. The Historical Society acquired it for use as a museum, in 1969, with help from the Molong Shire Council.
]
Heritage listings
Molong has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
* Main Western railway: Molong railway station
* SE of Molong Yuranigh Road: Grave of Yuranigh
Geography
Molong is located on the Mitchell Highway
Mitchell Highway is an outback state highway located in the central and south western regions of Queensland and the northern and central western regions of New South Wales in Australia. The southern part of the Mitchell Highway forms part ...
about west of Sydney and about from the city of Orange
Orange most often refers to:
*Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis''
** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower
*Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum
* ...
, and an elevation of 529 metres above sea level. At the 2016 census, Molong had a population of 1,674 people.[ ]Charles Sturt
Charles Napier Sturt (28 April 1795 – 16 June 1869) was a British officer and explorer of Australia, and part of the European exploration of Australia. He led several expeditions into the interior of the continent, starting from Sydney and la ...
visited Molong in 1828. Molong was the site of an early copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
mine in Australia, located at Copper Hill just outside Molong.
The railway from Sydney reached Molong in 1886; it was later extended to Parkes Parkes may refer to:
* Sir Henry Parkes (1815–1896), Australian politician, one of the earliest and most prominent advocates for Australian federation
Named for Henry Parkes
* Parkes, New South Wales, a regional town
* Parkes Observatory, a radi ...
. A branch railway to Dubbo was opened in 1925 and closed in 1987.
Climate
Despite Molong's elevation, it still manages to have a humid subtropical climate, bordering on an oceanic climate ( Köppen: ''Cfa/Cfb,'' Trewartha: ''Cfbk/Cfak''), with warm to hot summers and cool winters.
Education
*Molong Central School
*St Joseph's Catholic Schools
References
External links
Molong
on the Orange Town & Around website
{{authority control
Towns in New South Wales
Towns in the Central West (New South Wales)
Cabonne Council
Mining towns in New South Wales