Picton, New South Wales

Picton
New South Wales

Picton

Coordinates

34°11′S 150°36′E / 34.183°S 150.600°ECoordinates: 34°11′S 150°36′E / 34.183°S 150.600°E

Population

4,595 (2011 census)

Established

1841

Postcode(s)

2571

Elevation

165 m (541 ft)

Location

80 km (50 mi) from Sydney CBD
20 km (12 mi) from Camden
30 km (19 mi) from Campbelltown

Mean max temp	Mean min temp	Annual rainfall
23.5 °C ^{74 °F}	8.8 °C ^{48 °F}	803.6 mm ^{31.6 in}

Picton is a small town in the Macarthur Region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Wollondilly Shire, on the south-western edge of Sydney. The town is located 80 kilometres south-west of Sydney, close to Camden and Campbelltown. It is also the administrative centre of Wollondilly Shire.

Picton was first explored by Europeans in 1798 and remained beyond the limits of legal settlement until 1821. Following the discovery of good land in the interior and the settlement of Bong Bong and the Goulburn areas, Governor Macquarie authorised the building of the new Great South Road between Sydney and the Southern Highlands in 1819. This opened up the Picton area to settlers, including Henry Colden Antill, who established a 2,000-acre (8.1 km²) property in 1822.

Picton developed when a new line of the Great South Road was cut over the Razorback Range from Camden, and especially after the railway arrived in 1863. Picton is the only town in the Southern Hemisphere where you can pass through it twice when travelling by train. It was established as Stonequarry in 1841 and was renamed Picton in 1845. It remained a stopping point on the Great South Road, later renamed the Hume Highway, until it was bypassed in December 1980.

Bushfires destroyed several homes in the Nangarin Estate located on the western outskirts of Picton, from a fire front originating from Lakesland in September 2006.

Picton is home to many historic buildings, including two types of bridges not found easily anymore elsewhere in the state - Victoria Bridge a timber trestle bridge that crosses Stonequarry Creek, opened in 1897, and the 'Picton Railway Viaduct' a stone viaduct opened in 1863 to also cross Stonequarry Creek.

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