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Coordinates: 34°02′S 149°20′E / 34.033°S 149.333°E / -34.033; 149.333
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Tuena
New South Wales
Goldfields Inn
Tuena is located in New South Wales
Tuena
Tuena
Coordinates34°02′S 149°20′E / 34.033°S 149.333°E / -34.033; 149.333
Population59 (2016 census)[1]
Postcode(s)2583
Elevation490 m (1,608 ft)
Location
LGA(s)Upper Lachlan Shire
RegionSouthern Tablelands
CountyGeorgiana
ParishYarraman
State electorate(s)Goulburn
Federal division(s)Hume
Localities around Tuena:
Bigga Abercrombie River Jeremy
Bigga Tuena Peelwood
Bigga Crooked Corner Peelwood

Tuena is a town in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, in Upper Lachlan Shire. It is located on Tuena Creek, tributary of the Abercrombie River, 269 km (167 mi) west of the state capital, Sydney.[2] At the 2016 census, Tuena and the surrounding area had a population of 59.[1]

Only nine months after the first payable discovery of gold in Australia at Ophir (start of the Australian gold rushes), gold was found at Tuena.

History

The site was first explored by Dr. Charles Throsby in 1819, with the first landholder, Samuel Blackman, arriving in 1836. In May 1859, Tuena was formally declared a town.[3] It was surveyed and streets were laid out, although with the exception of Bathurst Road, little of the original town plan is evident today.[4][5][6]

Gold was discovered at Tuena in November 1851, although gold had been discovered on the Abercrombie River (the Tarshish Diggings), 10 km north some months earlier.[7] The following extract from a contemporary newspaper announces the discovery at Tuena.

Bathurst Free Press and Mining Journal (Newspaper), 15 November 1851: —

On the latter part of last week, news arrived on the river, and was quickly circulated through the surrounding country that very, rich diggings had been discovered on Tuena Creek, at one of Mr. Smith's sheep stations, known by the name of the Sapling Hut. He proceeded to the place and found a body of men very busily engaged digging up the bed of one of his sheep-yards and procuring gold in abundance.[8]

Rapid growth due to the gold rush saw construction of many buildings, a post office and police station in 1852, three pubs including the Goldfields Inn (1866), Parson's store, a courthouse (1860s) and a school (1860). The current school dates only to 1889.

During the years of gold mining, the town received a boost from the discovery of copper and silver ore with some gold, around 1884, at what became the Mount Costigan Mine, to the east of Tuena.[9][10][11] The mine closed for the first time in April 1889, to raise more capital, and production resumed later in the same year.[12][13] The mine was closed again by March 1892.[14] After that the mine seems to have been worked sporadically, by various owners, on a small scale.[15][16] The last attempt to reopen the mine seems to have been in 1927.[17]

During the 1930s, gold was mined using a gold dredge on Tuena Creek.[18]

The town's last hotel, The Goldfilds Inn, formerly the Tuena Hotel, closed in 2012.[11]

The town also boasts three churches - St. Mark's Anglican (1886), thought to be the oldest timber 'miner's church' still standing, the stone St. Margaret's Presbyterian (1890), and St. Mary's Catholic Church in 1896 (built of bricks from the old Cordillera mine).

The heavily forested and mountainous countryside, nearby Abercrombie Caves, and presence of the goldfields made Tuena an attraction for bushrangers including Ben Hall, Frank Gardiner, John Vane, Johnny Gilbert, John O'Meally, Cummins, and Lowry.

References

  1. ^ a b Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Tuena (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 7 July 2017. Edit this at Wikidata
  2. ^ "Tuena". Website. Argyle County. 18 March 2009. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  3. ^ "Tuena: Historic Gold Mining Village". Tourism Pamphlet. 2000.
  4. ^ "Map of the town of Tuena and suburban lands [cartographic material] : Parishes of Tuena and Yarraman, County of Georgiana, Land District of Crookwell". Trove. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  5. ^ "Tuena · New South Wales 2583, Australia". Google maps. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  6. ^ "Tuena · New South Wales 2583, Australia - Satellite View". Google maps. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  7. ^ "The Tarshish diggings - Abercrombie River". Newspaper. Bathurst Free Press and Mining Journal. 10 September 1851. p. 2. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  8. ^ "Important Intelligence From The Tarshish Diggings". Bathurst Free Press and Mining Journal. 15 November 1851. p. 4. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
  9. ^ "TUENA". Goulburn Herald. 18 December 1884. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  10. ^ "Mt Costigan Mine (Costigan Mine), Tuena, Georgiana Co., New South Wales, Australia". www.mindat.org. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  11. ^ a b Roberts, Mick (25 August 2017). "Road Trip: The Cobb & Co trail". TIME GENTS. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  12. ^ "Mount Costigan Mine". Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate. 9 April 1889. p. 5. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  13. ^ "New South Wales". Australian Town and Country Journal. 7 December 1889. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  14. ^ "Mining at Tuena". Goulburn Evening Penny Post. 26 March 1892. p. 3. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  15. ^ "Mines at Tuena". Australian Town and Country Journal. 7 January 1893. p. 24. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  16. ^ "TUENA NEWS". Crookwell Gazette. 26 April 1907. p. 4. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  17. ^ "MOUNT COSTIGAN MINE". Sydney Morning Herald. 7 July 1927. p. 13. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  18. ^ "MINING". Townsville Daily Bulletin. 21 July 1933. p. 10. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
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