City of Lithgow NSW

Lithgow NSW 2790
	Population: 11,450, Height above sea level: 150m Latitude: 33.29.00, Longitude: 150.08.00 Location: 161km. west of Sydney Highway: Great Western Hwy (32) Nearest Major Town: Sydney Nearest Airport: Bathurst Touring Area: Blue Mountains

Lithgow is an historic mining town on the western side of the Blue Mountains. It was remote from the coastal cities until the Zig Zag railway linked it with Bell on the mountain plateau in 1869. Places to visit include the Eskbank House Museum in Bennett St which contains local pottery, photographs and memorabilia in an 1842 sandstone mansion. The Mine Railway heritage Park displays mining and railway equipment, the Small Arms Museum displays armaments and other machinery, and Blast Furnace Park shows the remains of Australia's first blast furnace.

In 1827 explorer Hamilton Hume named the Lithgow Valley after William Lithgow, private secretary to Governor Brisbane, and later Auditor General of New South Wales. He was looking for an alternative route to Cox's Road to descend the western side of the Great Dividing Range, which had first been crossed by Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson some 14 years earlier and which opened up the hinterland to cultivation and development.
There were already settlers in the area and the first in the Lithgow Valley was George Brown who took up land in 1824 on a property he named "Cooerwull". In 1837 Brown expanded his pastoral interests to establish a fllour mill which operated into the 1970's.
By the 1860's Brown had been joined by four other families in the Lithgow Valley. Colin Stewart (1839), Thomas Brown (no relation), (1840), Robert Pitt (1854) and Patrick Sheedy (1860) all took up land, but it was not until the railway reached the area in 1869 it began to prosper.
Thomas Brown purchased a 700 acre property at the eastern end of the valley which is now known as Eskbank House", and began a coal mine supplying the railway construction teams and the railway which was completed in 1869. This 'Zig Zag' railway still operates as a tourist venture and is acknowledged world wide as an engineering marvel.
It became apparent the valley contained large coal deposits and development of these and the railway access encouraged industry to the valley and with this came employment opportunities. An iron industry was established in 1875 by James Rutherford who built a pig-iron blast furnace and Lithgow produced the first steel manufactured in Australia. Copper smelting works, two breweries, two brickworks, a pipe and pottery works followed, and at one stage there were 12 coal mines operating in the region.
The land prospered and a meatworks was established by Thomas Mort in 1875 which supplied local markets and exported the first Australian chilled meat to the UK in 1900.
Lithgow was incorporated as a Municipality in 1889 and a gas works was established in 1893, a water supply in 1895 and an ambulance service in 1906.
Overseas competition and the inland location of Lithgow caused the decline of industry into the 20th. century and the steel works moved to the more favourable location of Port Kembla on the coast south of Sydney. The depression had a devastating effect on the town and the pottery works closed. Following the Second World War a number of light industries moved to Lithgow including clothing manufacturers. In the late 1950's the NSW Electricity Commisiion established a power generation plant at Wallerawang and coal deposits are still being mined in the region, although the last one in the town closed in 1985.
In 1977 the Lithgow and Blaxland Councils merged to become the Greater Lithgow City Council with headquarters in Lithgow and covering an area of 3,470 square kilometres including the Blue Mountains Tourism area.
Today, Lithgow is a pleasant town at the western end of a trip over the Blue Mountains and an ideal rest stop before continuing on on your journey west. There are motels, caravan parks and a well stocked tourist centre which can provide you with all the information you need to enjoy a few days touring the area.

SEE FULL LITHGOW TOWN MAP

PLACES OF INTEREST:

Hoskins Uniting Church

Poppet Head Restaurant

Hartley Historic Site

ACCOMMODATION & SERVICES:

USE ACCOMMODATION SEARCH

INFORMATION CENTRE:
Lithgow Tourist Information Centre.
285 Main St. Lithgow. 2790 NSW
Ph: 02 6351 2307.
Greater Lithgow Tourism Organisation

HOW TO GET THERE:
By rail or Coach from Sydney | Car along Great Western Hwy (32) via Katoomba, or through Richmond | Light plane to Lithgow Airport |
Coach Operators

Greyhound Pioneer: 132 030

McCaffertys Coachlines: 131 499
TOURS
Aussie Bushabout Holidays: 02 6352 1133
Appy Trails (Trail Riding: 02 6352 1822
Zig Zag Railway: 02 6351 4826