Alectown is a town in the Central West region 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. The town is on the Newell Highway and in the

Parkes Shire Parkes Shire is a local government area in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire is located adjacent to the Broken Hill railway line and the Newell Highway. The area under administration includes the town of Parke ...

local government area, , west north west of the state capital,

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. At the , Alectown and the surrounding area had a population of 168.

History

Originally known as Alecs Flat, the district was named after the three men who first prospected here - Alexander Cameron, Alexander Patton, and Alexander Whitelaw. It was originally a gold mining town which once had a population above 1,000. ''Bachelors Rush'' Post Office opened on 1 May 1888 and was renamed ''Alicktown'' in 1889 and ''Alectown'' in 1891. It closed in 1983. Today, only two

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

es and some residences remain in the town.

Telescope

Alectown is the actual address of the

Parkes Radio Telescope 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 ...

operated by the

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentar ...

, the largest

radio telescope A radio telescope is a specialized antenna and radio receiver used to detect radio waves from astronomical radio sources in the sky. Radio telescopes are the main observing instrument used in radio astronomy, which studies the radio frequency ...

in Australia, which is used for both theoretical research and on

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

projects including the

Moon landings A Moon landing is the arrival of a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. This includes both crewed and robotic missions. The first human-made object to touch the Moon was the Soviet Union's Luna 2, on 13 September 1959. The United St ...

Notable residents

Scott Westcott Scott Westcott (born 25 September 1975) is an Australian runner. Born near Parkes, New South Wales, Westcott was an avid runner as a teenager, winning the 5000 m state championships. Westcott’s talent for the sport developed around the age of ...

* Kenneth Mulligan OAM MAICD (Ken Mulligan)

References

Towns in New South Wales Towns in the Central West (New South Wales) Newell Highway Parkes Shire Mining towns in New South Wales {{CentralWestNSW-geo-stub

History

Telescope

Notable residents

See also

References