Wallerawang, New South Wales

Wallerawang is a small township in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately 14 km northwest of Lithgow adjacent to the Great Western Highway from Sydney. It is also located on the Main Western railway line at the junction of the Gwabegar line.

The original inhabitants of the area west of the Blue Mountains were the Wiradjuri Aboriginal Australians. It is believed they knew the area as Waller-owang. It is understood to mean place near wood and water, or plenty of water. James Blackman was probably the first European to discover the area when he marked out the route of the new road from Bathurst to the area now known as Wallerawang.

In 1824, 11 years after the first exploration led by Blaxland over the Blue Mountains, a James Walker was granted a large portion of land in the area now known as Wallerawang. In 1836 the property was to become known as Barton Park.

Two of Walker's convict servants took up land leases in the area in the 1850s, one of them was Maddox who named his lease Lidsdale.

Charles Darwin, the English naturalist, stayed at "Wallerowang House" (later to become Barton Park) in 1836. In the book, Darwin describes the countryside around the Wallerawang area and the wildlife including Platypus in his book "The Voyage of the Beagle".

The local school has operated at three sites, in 1860 the first small stone school opened near the present power station, in 1882 the school relocated nearer the township and finally to its present location near Lake Wallace in 1995. The 1860 school, which is still standing, was opened by James Walker's widow.

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