Colo Vale () is a Northern Village of the Southern Highlands of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, in

Wingecarribee Shire Wingecarribee Shire is the Local government in Australia, local government area of the Southern Highlands (New South Wales), Southern Highlands in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Wingecarribee Shire is around southwest of Sydney a ...

. Colo Vale is approximately 100 km south west on the

Hume Highway The Hume Highway, including the sections now known as the Hume Freeway and the Hume Motorway, is one of Australia's major inter-city national highways, running for between Melbourne in the southwest and Sydney in the northeast. Upgrading of t ...

from

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. It is situated 2 km north-west of

Aylmerton Aylmerton is a village in the county of Norfolk, England. It is in the area of North Norfolk and lies south of the North Sea, south-west of Cromer and east of Holt, Norfolk, Holt. The parish is bordered by the parishes of Beeston Regis and W ...

, 5 km from the

and 12 km drive to

Mittagong Mittagong () is a town located in the Southern Highlands (New South Wales), Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in Wingecarribee Shire. The town acts as the gateway to the Southern Highlands when coming from Sydney. Mittagong is si ...

. The surrounding area is part of the Parish of Colo which includes the villages of

, Willow Vale, Alpine and Yerrinbool. Colo Vale has a mixed-business general store and many home-based businesses, including hairdressers, small manufacturing businesses and a large native plant nursery (Wariapendi Nursery) and a Public School on Wattle Street. A large sporting oval is located adjacent to the school with tennis courts, a community hall and a Rural Fire Service station.

History

The village was formerly a station on the Main Southern Railway. During the early 1860s, increased settlement occurred due to the rich soil which derived from decomposing volcanic rock. St. Pauls Anglican Church which still stands today was built in 1884. This operates as a branch church o
Mittagong Anglican Church.
ref name=brief/> The railway line was deviated in 1919 to a less steep alignment with easier grades and the original line became the Picton Loop line. Colo Vale railway station, though disused, has been restored and is in good condition. The word ''Colo'' is believed to be an Aboriginal word for "a hill formed by volcanic rock”. In 1837 when John Kiernan purchased some land where modern Colo Vale is, he called it ''Colo''. This name became the official Parish name for the area.The first school was built in 1911. In 1923, Colo Vale was settled by English migrant poultry farmers. In 1954, Colo Vale had a population of 121 with 37 dwellings.

Population

In the , there were 1,618 people in Colo Vale. 83.9% of people were born in Australia and 90.4% of people spoke only English at home. The most common responses for religion were Anglican 25.0%, No Religion 24.7% and Catholic 23.4%. At the 2021 census, the population had increased to 1,775.

References

Photo gallery

File:Colo Vale Town Sign.jpg, File:Colo Vale Village Store.jpg, File:Colo Vale Rural Fire Shed.jpg, File:Colo Vale Memorial Hall.jpg, File:Colo Vale Road Bridge.jpg, File:St Paul's Church Colo Vale.jpg, File:Colo Vale station 2.JPG, Colo Vale Heritage Train Station {{authority control Towns of the Southern Highlands (New South Wales)