Moss Vale is a town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in the Wingecarribee Shire.
Moss Vale is a town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in the Wingecarribee Shire. At the 2016 census, it has a population of 8,579 and is sited on the Illawarra Highway, which connects to Wollongong and the Illawarra coast via Macquarie Pass.
Moss Vale has several heritage buildings. In the centre of the main street is Leighton Gardens.
Moss Vale is believed to have fertile soil and good precipitation. Agricultural rural holdings in the area specialise in dairy herds, mainly Holstein Frisian, and there is an assortment of beef studs and sheep properties.The town has a commercial district and a golf course.
The Wingecarribee Shire Council Chambers are located at 68 Elizabeth Street, Moss Vale. They can be found online at:
Wingecarribee Shire Council Website
Wingecarribee Shire Council Facebook Page
The Southern Highlands Police Station, part of the Hume Police District is the main NSW Police Force Station serving the Southern Highlands (Wingecarribee Shire). It is located at 67 Elizabeth Street, Moss Vale and can be found online at:
NSW Police Force Website
The Hume Police District Facebook Page
Moss Vale has a New South Wales Rural Fire Service Brigade which is located at 49 Berrima Road, Moss Vale and can be found online at:
Moss Vale Rural Fire Brigade Website
Moss Vale Rural Fire Brigade Facebook Page
There is also a Fire and Rescue NSW Station which is located at 64 Elizabeth Street, Moss Vale which is across the road from the Police Station and just up from the Wingecarribee Shire Council Chambers. They can be located online at:
Fire and Rescue NSW Website
Fire and Rescue NSW Moss Vale Fire Station Facebook Page
Moss Vale has undergone recent (2019) gentrification. It has become a hub for independent and creative businesses, including design stores, cafes, and bars.
History
The Moss Vale area was once occupied by the Gundangara people, though they had disappeared by the 1870s, partly due to the loss of their hunting land to European settlers.Governor Hunter sent a party led by ex-convict John Wilson to investigate the area in 1798.Various others explored the area up to 1815, including John Warby, George Caley, Hamilton Hume and John Oxley.Hume, Charles Throsby and Joseph Wild explored the area west of Sutton Forest in 1817 and in 1818, together with James Meehan, they explored the area between Moss Vale and Jervis Bay.Governor Macquarie granted Throsby 1,000 acres (4.0 km2), known as Throsby Park, at Bong Bong, on the northeastern outskirts of Moss Vale and put him in charge of building theOld Argyle Road from Sydney to Goulburn in 1819.This road was replaced in the 1830s by a more direct road via Berrima surveyed by Thomas Mitchell and most of the population of Bong Bong moved to Berrima.The heritage-listed property of Throsby Park house was built about 1834, six years after Throsby's suicide.The area, which was considered to be part of Sutton Forest, remained rural until the coming of the railway.Subdivision part of Throsby Park for the town of Moss Vale, named after Jemmy Moss, a herdsman at Throsby Park, commenced in 1864, in anticipation of the opening of Sutton Forest railway station in 1867 at the intersection with Old Argyle Road.Governor Belmore rented Throsby Park from 1870 to 1872 to what is commonly believed to escape the summer heat of Sydney. The railway and the Robertson Land Acts encouraged denser settlement by selectors in the Southern Highlands and led to the growth of Moss Vale as a town.In 1877 Sutton Forest railway station was renamed Moss Vale.
Weather
Moss Vale has an oceanic climate (Cfb) with warm summers and cool winters.
Things to do