Dalmorton

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Dalmorton
New South Wales
Dalmorton is located in New South Wales
Dalmorton
Dalmorton
Coordinates29°51′52.16″S 152°27′24.12″E / 29.8644889°S 152.4567000°E / -29.8644889; 152.4567000Coordinates: 29°51′52.16″S 152°27′24.12″E / 29.8644889°S 152.4567000°E / -29.8644889; 152.4567000
Population4 (2016 census)[1]
Postcode(s)2460
Elevation213 m (699 ft)
Location66 km (41 mi) from Grafton
LGA(s)Clarence Valley
CountyGresham
State electorate(s)Clarence
Federal division(s)Page

Dalmorton is a locality in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. There once was a village of the same name, which was associated with gold mining. Much of the area of the locality is now reserved as National Parks or State Forests. At the 2016 census, the population of Dalmorton was four.[2]

Location[]

Dalmorton lies on both sides of the Boyd River and the Old Glen Innes Road.[3] The old village site lies on the left bank of the Boyd River, around the junction of Chaelundi Road and Old Glenn Innes Road, close to where Chaelundi Road crosses the Boyd River.[4]

History[]

The area now known as Dalmorton lies on the traditional lands of the Baanbay,[5] a group of the Gumbainggir.[6]

Gold was found in the valley of the Boyd River (then also known as the Little River), around the future site of Dalmorton in 1871.[7] The gold was found in quartz reefs and reef mining dominated the field. Initially, several gold reefs were worked, providing work for 600 men.[8][9] By 1877 there was only one rich gold reef—twelve inches thick and with gold visible in the quartz—being worked at Dalmorton and the number of men working had fallen to around 20.[10] However, gold mining continued in the wider area around the village well into the 1890s[11] and on a smaller scale after that.[12] The last mine in the area closed in 1942.[7] There were over one hundred mines—mainly gold but also silver—in the area around Dalmorton.[11][13] There was exploration for gold in the Dalmorton area as late as 1984.[14]

A site for the Village of Dalmorton was declared in February 1874.[15] The origin of the name Dalmorton is uncertain but possibly is taken from the name a nearby quartz reef mining lease.[16] The settlement predated 1874 and, at the peak of early gold mining in the early 1870s, had at least seven public houses. A post office, using the name Dalmorton, opened in 1872.[17][18] By 1877, Dalmorton had only one street, one hotel (Rudd's), three stores, and many empty houses, without a church or school.[10] Dependent upon mining activity, the village seems to have had revived somewhat in the early 1890s[19] but was in decline again by 1895.[20]

In 1891, the population of Dalmorton was around 200.[21] In 1918, Dalmorton was described as "a few scattered dwellings, occupied for the most part by tenacious fossickers, who will not give up the search for, the elusive streak".[22] The few remaining inhabitants were badly affected by the Spanish influeza pandemic in 1919.[23]

The village had a school from 1879 to 1914 and again from 1926 to 1931.[24] There was a police station at Dalmorton by 1881 and up to at least the early 1940s.[7][25] The village was also the site of a Police Court.[7]

Without gold mining and with limited agricultural potential, the village came to depend for a time on timber milling. Hoop pine grew in the valley. There were sawmills near Dalmorton. One sawmill was badly damaged by bushfire in 1936, but Dalmorton continued as a timber village well into the 1940s.[26][27]

Present day[]

All that remains of the village of Dalmorton today are the remains of a few buildings and the village's cemetery.[28] Slightly upstream of the old village site, on the right bank of the river is the Dalmorton Campground.[4] On the Old Glen Innes Road, a few kilometres to the west of the old village site, there is a short road tunnel, known as the Dalmorton Tunnel, which was hewn from solid rock and dates from the 1860s.[29][30][10]

References[]

  1. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Dalmorton (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 23 March 2018. Edit this at Wikidata
  2. ^ "2016 Census QuickStats: Dalmorton". quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  3. ^ "Dalmorton". Google Maps. Retrieved 2 March 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ a b "Dalmorton - Satellite view". Google Maps. Retrieved 28 February 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ "Map showing the distribution of the Aboriginal tribes of Australia [cartographic material]". Trove. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  6. ^ Norton, David R., The AIATSIS Map of Indigenous Australia. Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (1996)
  7. ^ a b c d Tuck, Dan (April 2018). "From the Tablelands to the Sea". Cosmos Archaeology Pty Ltd. pp. 52–58.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ^ "MINING NEWS". Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954). 16 September 1872. p. 2. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  9. ^ "THE LITTLE RIVER REEFS". Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912). 13 July 1872. p. 2. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  10. ^ a b c "A TRIP TO DALMORTON". Clarence and Richmond Examiner and New England Advertiser (Grafton, NSW : 1859 - 1889). 18 August 1877. p. 2. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  11. ^ a b "Dalmorton, Gresham Co., New South Wales, Australia". www.mindat.org. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  12. ^ "NOTES". Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954). 1 August 1927. p. 13. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  13. ^ "Mining at Dalmorton". Clarence and Richmond Examiner (Grafton, NSW : 1889 - 1915). 4 February 1893. p. 3. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  14. ^ "Ashton Mining takes option on Little River gold leases". Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995). 25 April 1984. p. 10. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  15. ^ "SITE FOR A VILLAGE". New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 - 1900). 17 February 1874. p. 476. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  16. ^ "MINING NEWS". Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954). 16 September 1872. p. 2. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  17. ^ "NEW POST OFFICES". Evening News (Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1931). 25 April 1872. p. 2. Retrieved 2 March 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. ^ "GOVERNMENT GAZETTE". Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1875). 24 April 1872. p. 2. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  19. ^ "DALMORTON". Glen Innes Examiner and General Advertiser (NSW : 1874 - 1908). 2 September 1890. p. 2. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  20. ^ "Dalmorton". Clarence and Richmond Examiner (Grafton, NSW : 1889 - 1915). 2 March 1895. p. 4. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  21. ^ "DALMORTON". Glen Innes Examiner and General Advertiser (NSW : 1874 - 1908). 10 November 1891. p. 2. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  22. ^ "DESERTED DALMORTON". Kyogle Examiner (NSW : 1912; 1914 - 1915; 1917 - 1954). 28 May 1919. p. 1. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  23. ^ "DALMORTON STRICKEN". Daily Examiner (Grafton, NSW : 1915 - 1954). 21 July 1919. p. 3. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  24. ^ "Dalmorton". nswgovschoolhistory.cese.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 1 March 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  25. ^ "OLD MAN'S DEATH". Daily Examiner (Grafton, NSW : 1915 - 1954). 9 February 1942. p. 2. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  26. ^ "Bush Fires". Inverell Times (NSW : 1899 - 1907, 1909 - 1954). 30 October 1936. p. 1. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  27. ^ "Death Of Prominent Grafton Businessman". Daily Examiner (Grafton, NSW : 1915 - 1954). 19 January 1948. p. 2. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  28. ^ "Australian Cemeteries Index - Cemetery 1354 - Dalmorton". austcemindex.com. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  29. ^ "Thematic Forest History UNE/LNE CRA Regions - APPENDIX 2: CRA HERITAGE INVENTORY (UNE)" (PDF). p. 45. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 January 2021.
  30. ^ "Old Glen Innes Road and the Historic Tunnel Grafton - Grafton Travel Guide". www.travelguide.net.au. Retrieved 1 March 2021.

External links[]

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