Adelong

Adelong is a small town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, situated on the banks of the Adelong Creek.

Adelong is a small town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, situated on the banks of the Adelong Creek.

Adelong sits on the Snowy Mountains Highway and is a part of the Snowy Valleys Council. At the 2016 census, Adelong had an urban population of 943.

The area now known as Adelong lies on the traditional lands of the Wiradjuri people.In 1852 during the Australian Gold Rush, gold was discovered at Upper Adelong. Records around the time indicated a yield of 198 kg 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 reef 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. These included the heritage-listed Adelong Falls Gold Workings.

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. 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.