Portland is a town in the
Central Tablelands
The Central Tablelands in New South Wales is a geographic area that lies between the Sydney Metropolitan Area and the Central Western Slopes and Plains. The Great Dividing Range passes in a north–south direction through the Central Tablelands ...
of
New South Wales
)
, 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
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. At the , Portland had a population of 2,424 people.
[ The town was named after Australia's first ]cement
A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mix ...
works.
Location
Portland is part of the gateway to the Central West and is located between Oberon
Oberon () is a king of the fairies in medieval and Renaissance literature. He is best known as a character in William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', in which he is King of the Fairies and spouse of Titania, Queen of the Fair ...
, Mudgee
Mudgee is a town in the Central West (New South Wales), Central West of New South Wales, Australia. It is in the broad fertile Cudgegong River valley north-west of Sydney and is the largest town in the Mid-Western Regional Council Local gover ...
, Bathurst, Lithgow, and the Blue Mountains. It is a short drive from both the Great Western and Castlereagh Highways. It is accessed from the Great Western Highway
Great Western Highway (also known as Broadway from to , Parramatta Road from Chippendale to , and Church Street through Parramatta) is a state highway in New South Wales, Australia. From east to west, the highway links Sydney with Bathurst, ...
via Wallerawang or from Sunny Corner Rd at Meadow Flat. It is accessed from the Castlereagh Highway via Boulder Road at the Mt Piper Power Station.
The town centre has a distinct business district, several parks and sporting clubs.
History
Prior to white settlement, the Portland region was occupied by the Wiradjuri
The Wiradjuri people (; ) are a group of Aboriginal Australian people from central New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, ...
people. The first European in the area was James Blackman who surveyed roads in the area in 1820 and today Blackman's Flat and Blackman's Crown bear the family name.
The town of Portland is of interest as an historic mining town, and also as the place of the first cement factory in Australia. Portland really got its start when Thomas Murray selected 61 hectares of land in 1863 and constructed his first lime kiln on what is now the corner of Lime and Villiers Streets. The railway came through Portland in 1882 and the first station opened in 1887 was called Cullen Siding until 1889. The Cullen Bullen Lime and Cement Company established operations in the village that year. During the early 1890s, the first cement-making kilns west of the Blue Mountains were built in Portland.
In 1894, the village was gazetted as Portland, the name derived from the cement-making process which was already well underway in the area.
The cement works opened in 1902 and Portland was declared a town in 1906. Many of the original buildings in Portland were built by the cement works company for employees and still stand. Well-known Australian brand names now adorn many of the historic shops and buildings, creating a strong link to "yesteryear" that is celebrated by the town.
Heritage listings
Portland has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
* Carlton Road: Raffan's Mill and Brick Bottle Kilns
* Williwa Street: Portland Cement Works Precinct
Portland Cement Works Precinct is a heritage-listed former cement works and limestone quarries and now disused industrial site at Williwa Street, Portland, City of Lithgow, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed and built in various ...
The cement works
From 1902 cement produced at the "Commonwealth Portland Cement Company" mill helped build up the cities of Sydney, Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, and Canberra
Canberra ( )
is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
. "Portland cement
Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world as a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar, stucco, and non-specialty grout. It was developed from other types of hydraulic lime in England in the early 19th c ...
", a phrase synonymous with high quality cement anywhere in the world, was milled using limestone from onsite quarries and shipped throughout Australia. The town of Portland grew up around the Cement Works and the company contributed greatly to the area, building facilities that were needed for employees. A bath house, casino, an ice skating rink, Olympic swimming pool, and living quarters were supplied to workers. The cement kilns even generated enough energy to power the homes around it.
The factories of Portland and the surrounding area required the transportation of limestone, coal, and other materials, and to this end, a number of private industrial railways and tramways were constructed.
Climate and weather
At an altitude of 925 metres above sea level, Portland is the 21st highest town in Australia and classified as a temperate zone. Cool winters and warm summers ensure four distinct seasons and snowfalls each winter.
The Crystal Theatre
Originally constructed as a theatre and public hall, the original building was destroyed by fire in 1925. Current release films are shown monthly and the hall is maintained by volunteers and available for community use.
Signs of yesteryear
In 2001, Ron Bidwell, a signwriter by trade, together with his fellow "Letterheads" recreated vintage signs dating from 1895 to 1945 on local shop walls. ‘Painting Portland’ was a project initiated by Ron Bidwell and completed during the Letterheads Wallnuts Weekend, in 2001. Thirty-four signwriters travelled to Portland to work with locals to restore and reproduce advertising used in the early part of the 20th century. Goanna Salve, Kinkara Tea, Bushell's Tea, Mother's Choice Flour, Uncle Toby's Oats, Arnott's Biscuits, Toohey's Flag Ale, Solvol, Federal Safety Matches and Swagsman Blend Tea are a selection from the colourful Signs of Yesteryear.
For the last 20 years the Portland Wallnuts continue to gather in Portland NSW on the last weekend in October every year, to celebrate the achievements of previous years and continue on the Tradition of Traditional Signwriting. In the last 20 years more than 200 signwriters from around the world have donated their time in painting more than 280 signs in Keeping the Signs of Yesteryear alive.
Sporting clubs
*Portland Golf Club
*Portland Bowling Club
*Portland Olympic Pool
*Portland Colts Rugby League Club
*The Showground
*Gindaay Youth Centre
*Portland District Motor Sports Club
Schools in and around Portland
Portland Central School
St Josephs School Portland
Cullen Bullen Public School
Meadow Flat Public School
Recreation areas
The well serviced town is surrounded by a combination of national parks, crown land, farming areas and forestry, and has many areas that are well known for outdoor recreation. Adjacent to the town is a 650-acre Town Common
Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel.
A person who has a r ...
with the Williewa Creek and flats running through the centre. "The Williewa" is an open eucalypt
Eucalypt is a descriptive name for woody plants with capsule fruiting bodies belonging to seven closely related genera (of the tribe Eucalypteae) found across Australasia:
''Eucalyptus'', '' Corymbia'', '' Angophora'', ''Stockwellia'', ''Allosyn ...
forest with an abundance of Eucalyptus macrorhyncha
''Eucalyptus macrorhyncha'', commonly known as the red stringybark, is a species of medium-sized tree that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has rough, stringy, grey to brown bark, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of between se ...
(Red stringybark) and native wildflowers and is popular with picnickers, mountain bikers and bushwalkers. There is a small well stocked dam and a plethora of birdlife as well as native wildlife, including Calyptorhynchus funereus
The yellow-tailed black cockatoo (''Zanda funerea'') is a large cockatoo native to the south-east of Australia measuring in length. It has a short crest on the top of its head. Its plumage is mostly brownish black and it has prominent yellow ...
(Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoo), Platycercus elegans
The crimson rosella (''Platycercus elegans'') is a parrot native to eastern and south eastern Australia which has been introduced to New Zealand and Norfolk Island. It is commonly found in, but not restricted to, mountain forests and gardens. Th ...
(Crimson rosella), Alisterus scapularis (King Parrot) and Macropus giganteus (Eastern grey Kangaroo).
The surrounding forests are popular with 4WD and dirt bike enthusiasts. Sunny Corner, Ben Bullen, Wolgan and Newnes State forests are all nearby and bush camping is available.
Portland is also a popular destination for geocaching
Geocaching is an outdoor recreational activity, in which participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches", at specific l ...
, as well as rogaining and orienteering. The town is close to the Wollemi National Park
The Wollemi National Park () is a protected national park and wilderness area that is located in the northern Blue Mountains and Lower Hunter regions of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The park, the second largest national park in New S ...
, the Gardens of Stone National Park
The Gardens of Stone National Park is a protected national park that is located in the Central Tablelands region of New South Wales in eastern Australia. The national park is situated northwest of Sydney, and northwest of . The national par ...
and the Turon National Park
Turon National Park is located along a section of the Turon River in central New South Wales, Australia. Proposed as an area worth protecting in 1983, the park was not established until 2002. The park is north-west of Sydney, approximately wes ...
.
Portland is abundant in wild foods dependent on season. Spring is when wild apples and stone fruits are in bloom. Summer is the season for ripe blackberries
The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by many species in the genus ''Rubus'' in the family Rosaceae, hybrids among these species within the subgenus ''Rubus'', and hybrids between the subgenera ''Rubus'' and ''Idaeobatus''. The taxonomy of ...
, which are a noxious weed, and the more difficult to locate stone fruits. During Autumn, apples, pears and quince are ripe and the forests are rich with mushrooms. Lactarius deliciosus
''Lactarius deliciosus'', commonly known as the saffron milk cap and red pine mushroom, is one of the best known members of the large milk-cap genus '' Lactarius'' in the order Russulales. It is native to Europe, but has been accidentally introd ...
and Boletes (Boletus portentosus) are safe to eat.
Trout fishing is possible in local streams and creeks, the best known spot being Thompson's Creek Dam which is a twenty-minute hike from the carpark on Thompson's Creek Rd via the Falnash State Forest.
Transport
A railway station was opened at Portland with the name "Cullen Siding" in 1887, being renamed to Portland in 1889, the station was relocated in 1911. Passenger rail services ceased when services to Mudgee railway station
Mudgee railway station is a heritage-listed former railway station on the Gwabegar railway line at Mudgee, Mid-Western Regional Council, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by John Whitton and built from 1883 to 1884. The property was a ...
ceased in 1985. Rail services included the Mudgee Mail in the 1960s, and diesel multiple unit services between Lithgow and Mudgee in the 1970s until closing in 1985.
As of 2020, Lithgow Buslines operates return services from Lithgow, and well as visiting Portland en route between Lithgow and Bathurst. NSW Trainlink also provide coach services between Lithgow and Gulgong via Portland [ ]
References
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Towns in New South Wales
Central Tablelands
Mining towns in New South Wales