Adelong, New South Wales

Adelong is a small town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, situated on the banks of the Adelong River.Tumut is situated about 160km west of Canberra, on the Snowy Mountains Highway and is a part of the Snowy Valleys Council. At the, Adelong had an urban population of 943.EtymologyAdelong's name is said to be derived from the local Aboriginal language meaning "along the way" or "plain with a river".HistoryIn 1852 during the Australian Gold Rush, gold was discovered at Upper Adelong. Records around the time indicated a yield of 198kg of precious metals. In 1855 Adelong was declared a gold field. The Adelong township, which was first established in 1836, came alive when in 1857 William Willams discovered a gold bearing reed ore on Charcoal Hill. Alluvial mining and panning along the Adelong Creek was followed by mines being staked in the surrounding hills and water and steam powered stamper batteries were located along the creek to crush and process the hard pyritic quartz ore. The gold ran out in the latter part of the 19th century and the pastoral industry became the principal activity. This was mainly Merino sheep and beef cattle, and continues now. Over the last 20 years a tourist industry has developed because of the pleasant scenery and gold mining history. During the gold rush many Chinese people worked in the mines, a lot of whom died and were buried in a special portion of the Adelong cemetery. Unfortunately the Chinese portion of the cemetery was obliterated in the early 1900s. One or two elderly Chinese and Indians still lived in Adelong in the 1950s. A community named Cornishtown existed about a mile to the west of Adelong till the 1940s. The famous Adelong Falls, with its rich gold-mining past, is an ideal spot to have a leisurely picnic or to explore the unique surrounding area.