Caloola

Caloola is 28 km south-west of Bathurst and 24 km east-south east of Blayney, by road. The nearest settlement is the village of Newbridge, 7 km to the west. The locality lies on either side of Trunkey Road, the road between Bathurst and Trunkey Creek.

The area now known as Caloola is on the traditional land of Wiradjuri people.{{Cite web|title=Tindale Tribes - Wiradjuri|url=http://archives.samuseum.sa.gov.au/tindaletribes/wiradjuri.htm|access-date=2021-02-07|website=archives.samuseum.sa.gov.au|archive-date=17 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210317183054/http://archives.samuseum.sa.gov.au/tindaletribes/wiradjuri.htm|url-status=dead}} The name Caloola is probably a settlers' rendering of an aboriginal word and is said to mean "old battleground".{{Cite news|date=1905-06-03|title=ABORIGINAL GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES.|pages=5|work=Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9875351|access-date=2021-01-04}} After settler colonisation, Caloola lay within the County of Bathurst, Parish of Lowry.{{Cite web|title=Parish of Lowry, County of Bathurst [cartographic material] : Land District of Bathurst|url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-233755196|access-date=2021-01-04|website=Trove|language=en}}

In 1853, Caloola Creek was included as a goldfield within the Western Goldfields.{{Cite news|date=1862-01-04|title=SCHEDULE.|pages=4|work=Newcastle Chronicle and Hunter River District News (NSW : 1859 - 1866)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article111167841|access-date=2021-01-03}} There was a short-lived gold rush to Caloola Creek.{{Cite news|date=1912-05-04|title=CALOOLA CREEK.|pages=3|work=Bathurst Times (NSW : 1909 - 1925)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article111369442|access-date=2021-01-31}}{{Cite news|date=1853-03-30|title=THE WESTERN COLD FIELDS.|pages=3|work=Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1875)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article61322926|access-date=2021-02-01}} By 1858, most of the ethnic-European gold diggers had moved on and the field had about 150 ethnic-Chinese miners working there.{{Cite news|date=1858-04-07|title=Local Intelligence.|pages=2|work=Bathurst Free Press and Mining Journal (NSW : 1851 - 1904)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article64377084|access-date=2021-02-01}}

Despite the presence of alluvial gold, the main impetus for further settlement, during the 1850s, seems to have been agriculture. Settlers in the area were petitioning for the establishment of a post office in 1856.{{Cite news|date=1856-11-01|title=YESTERDAY'S RECEIPT OF GOLD.|pages=5|work=Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12988545|access-date=2021-01-03}} The post office was opened in 1858 and operated from a newly built store.{{Cite news|date=1858-01-06|title=QUEEN CHARLOTTE'S VALE RACES.|pages=2|work=Bathurst Free Press and Mining Journal (NSW : 1851 - 1904)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article64377701|access-date=2021-01-03}}

In 1865, the Caloola Union Church was built. This church was unusual, in that the building was controlled by a local trust and made available to any denomination to hold church services.

Gold in areas nearby, such as Tuena and Trunkey Creek, and improvements made to the roads to Bathurst and Tuena,{{Cite news|date=1862-08-15|title=LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY.|pages=3|work=Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1875)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60479646|access-date=2021-01-31}}{{Cite news|date=1861-03-09|title=THE ROADS OF THE COLONY.|pages=2|work=Sydney Mail (NSW : 1860 - 1871)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article166695787|access-date=2021-01-31}} generated passing traffic for Caloola, which in turn attracted bushrangers. In the early 1860s, the small settlement at Caloola—without any police—had more than its share of mayhem, largely but not only due to Ben Hall, John Gilbert and their criminal associates.{{Cite news|date=1865-05-29|title=OFFENCES OF HALL AND GILBERT.|pages=5|work=Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13113648|access-date=2021-01-31}}

In late 1862, the owner of the store and inn at Caloola was shot during a robbery. Two of the robbers, Charles Ross and—unrelated—Alexander Ross, were convicted of attempted murder and hanged in 1863.{{Cite news|last=White|first=Charles|date=1902-11-29|title=AUSTRALIAN BUSHRANGING - THE CALOOLA ROBBERS.|pages=6|work=Goulburn Evening Penny Post (NSW : 1881 - 1940)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article98718466|access-date=2021-01-31}}{{Cite news|date=1862-12-06|title=DARING ROBBERY AND ATTEMPTED MURDER.|pages=7|work=Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article244406467|access-date=2021-01-31}}{{Cite news|date=1863-03-09|title=NEW SOUTH WALES.|pages=6|work=Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article154969794|access-date=2021-01-31}}{{Cite news|date=1903-04-07|title=Australian Bushranging.|pages=4|work=Lithgow Mercury (NSW : 1898 - 1954)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article221480634|access-date=2021-01-31}}{{Cite news|date=1915-06-22|title=The Bushrangers|pages=7|work=Farmer and Settler (Sydney, NSW : 1906 - 1955)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article116664720|access-date=2021-01-31}}

On 30 July 1863, the store was again robbed by two men, believed to be the bushrangers, John Glbert and John O'Meally. The storekeeper rode to Bathurst to inform the police about the robbery.{{Cite news|date=1863-08-04|title=ATTEMPT TO ROB THE BANK AT CABCOAB—A STORE STUCK UP AT CALOOLA.|pages=2|work=Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1875)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60546153|access-date=2021-01-31}}

On 23 September 1863, Caloola was the site of a raid by a gang of five notorious bushrangers, Ben Hall, John Gilbert, John O'Meally, John Vane, and Michael Burke. At the time, as well as the store, Caloola had a blacksmith and a shoemaker. The storekeeper and the two others were handcuffed. The gang ransacked the store, taking what they needed and willfully destroying the rest, as revenge for the storekeeper previously having given information to the police. The gang stole two horses from an adjacent paddock to carry their loot—shooting dead some other horses that they could not catch—before adjourning to Caloola's public house and carousing, until ten o'clock at night.{{Cite news|date=1863-10-01|title=OUTRAGE AT CALOOLA.|pages=3|work=Golden Age (Queanbeyan, NSW : 1860 - 1864)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article30634083|access-date=2021-01-03}} One of the gang, John Vane, was later tried and convicted for his part in the raid, among other crimes.{{Cite news|date=1864-04-16|title=TRIAL OF VANE THE BUSHRANGER.|pages=4|work=Sydney Mail (NSW : 1860 - 1871)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article166653853|access-date=2021-01-31}} The other four members of the gang, who had raided Calooola, had all met violent deaths, by the end of May 1865.{{Cite web|title=The Gang|url=https://www.benhallaustralianbushranger.com/p/gang.html|access-date=2021-01-31|language=en-GB}}

The impetus for the official establishment of a village was gold mining, after reef gold was found there in 1871.{{Cite news|date=1870-02-19|title=Caloola.|pages=8|work=Sydney Mail (NSW : 1860 - 1871)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article166811591|access-date=2021-01-03}}{{Cite news|date=1872-01-20|title=GOLD DIGGING AT CALOOLA CREEK.|pages=2|work=Bathurst Free Press and Mining Journal (NSW : 1851 - 1904)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63431334|access-date=2021-01-03}} In 1897, there were three reef mines in the area.{{Cite news|date=1897-02-25|title=MINING.|pages=3|work=Evening News (Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1931)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article108862233|access-date=2021-01-03}} The most significant of these was the Caloola Creek Gold Mine.{{Cite news|date=1897-09-11|title=The Caloola Creek Mine.|pages=23|work=Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1907)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71277723|access-date=2021-01-03}} The Caloola Creek Gold Mining Co. had been registered in 1872.{{Cite news|date=1872-10-01|title=I THE undersigned, Patrick Egan, do hereby make application to register the "Caloola Creek Gold Mining Company."|pages=2534|work=New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 - 1900)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230132816|access-date=2021-01-04}} The mine continued in operation, until at least 1914,{{Cite news|date=1914-11-20|title=MINING NEWS.|pages=4|work=Lithgow Mercury (NSW : 1898 - 1954)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article218676463|access-date=2021-01-03}} and probably somewhat later.

The site of a village, with the official name of Egan, was set aside on 27 January 1871. The site was between the left bank of Caloola Creek and the right bank of its tributary McGeorges Creek, on either side of the road now known as Trunkey Road, which was originally its main street. Within the village, the main street was called Lanarch Street. Other planned streets of Egan included Belmore, Corrie and Caloola Streets.{{Cite news|date=1871-01-27|title=SITE FOR VILLAGE OF EGAN, CALOOLA CREEK.|pages=229|work=New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 - 1900)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article224329918|access-date=2021-01-03}} The village had been planned in 1870.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Plan of the Village of Egan [cartographic material] : Parish of Lowry, County of Bathurst, N.S.W., 1870.|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/167934518|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-01-04|website=trove.nla.gov.au}} As a result of the Crown Lands Act of 1884, the village of Egan was proclaimed a village in 1885.{{Cite web|title=Parish of Lowry, County of Bathurst [cartographic material]|url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-512788128|access-date=2021-01-04|website=Trove|language=en}}

The manager of the Caloola Creek Gold Mine, in 1872, was Patrick Egan and it seems likely that the village took its official name from his surname. However, as the locality was already known as Caloola, or Caloola Creek, and it had an existing church and post office, the village was always better known as Caloola. The village seems to have grown, but not very much beyond the few buildings that were already on its site by 1871.{{fact|date=July 2022}}

A provisional school opened in 1871. An application was made for a public school at Caloola in August 1877. The public school opened in September 1877 and a board to control it was appointed in November of the same year.{{Cite news|date=1877-09-04|title=NEW PUBLIC SCHOOL.|pages=3411|work=New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 - 1900)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article223538356|access-date=2021-01-04}}{{Cite news|date=1877-11-23|title=Government Gazette Appointments and Employment|pages=4527|work=New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 - 1900)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article225826933|access-date=2021-01-04}}{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Caloola (1)|url=https://nswgovschoolhistory.cese.nsw.gov.au/schoolHistory?schoolId=1506|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107094316/https://nswgovschoolhistory.cese.nsw.gov.au/schoolHistory?schoolId=1506 |archive-date=2021-01-07 |access-date=2021-01-04|website=nswgovschoolhistory.cese.nsw.gov.au}} A teacher's residence existed at Caloola by 1880.{{Cite news|date=1880-05-08|title=Family Notices|pages=861|work=Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article161876991|access-date=2021-01-04}} The public school closed in 1891, reopening again as a provisional school in 1896. In 1904 residents were agitating for the opening of a public school.{{Cite news|date=1904-09-05|title=CALOOLA NEWS.|pages=3|work=National Advocate (Bathurst, NSW : 1889 - 1954)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article157220971|access-date=2021-01-04}} Tenders were called for the construction of a public school building in 1906.{{Cite news|date=1906-06-26|title=CALOOLA.|pages=3|work=Lithgow Mercury (NSW : 1898 - 1954)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article218758251|access-date=2021-01-04}} The school became a 'half time school' in 1909 and finally closed altogether, in 1917,{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Caloola (2)|url=https://nswgovschoolhistory.cese.nsw.gov.au/schoolHistory?schoolId=1507|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210108021604/https://nswgovschoolhistory.cese.nsw.gov.au/schoolHistory?schoolId=1507 |archive-date=2021-01-08 |access-date=2021-01-04|website=nswgovschoolhistory.cese.nsw.gov.au}}{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2019-12-03|title=Glossary of school types|url=https://education.nsw.gov.au/about-us/our-people-and-structure/history-of-government-schools/school-database-search/glossary.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200326211754/https://education.nsw.gov.au/about-us/our-people-and-structure/history-of-government-schools/school-database-search/glossary.html |archive-date=2020-03-26 |access-date=2021-01-16|website=education.nsw.gov.au|language=en}} after the mine had closed. In 1954, residents were once again advocating opening a school at Caloola,{{Cite news|date=1954-07-21|title=SCHOOL SOUGHT FOR CALOOLA|pages=2|work=National Advocate (Bathurst, NSW : 1889 - 1954)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article161544166|access-date=2021-01-04}} this time without success. The school was on the western side of Trunkey Road, at the southern end of the village.{{Cite web|title=BATHURST REGIONAL LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL PLAN 2014 - SCHEDULE 5|url=http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_reg/brlep2014400/sch5.html|access-date=2021-02-01|website=www5.austlii.edu.au}}

In 1879, a contract was let for roadworks for a road connecting Caloola with Newbridge, which from 1882 lay on the Main Western railway line.{{Cite news|date=1879-09-13|title=Government Gazette.|pages=423|work=Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article161871650|access-date=2021-01-04}}

In 1902 and 1903, the size of the land allocated to the village was reduced and some streets closed, to more realistically reflect the future prospects of the village.{{Cite news|date=1902-09-10|title=PROPOSED ALTERATION OF DESIGN OP THE VILLAGE OF EGAN AND CANCELLATION OF SUBURBAN LANDS.|pages=6466|work=Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 2001)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article222045986|access-date=2021-01-03}}{{Cite news|date=1903-11-21|title=ALTERATION OF DESIGN OF THE VILLAGE OF EGAN.|pages=8554|work=Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 2001)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article226369761|access-date=2021-01-03}} By 1982, the village had been officially renamed Caloola and Trunkey Road had been realigned so that it ran slightly to the west of the old main street, Lanarch Street.

The locality of Caloola is largely an agricultural area.{{Cite web |date=2022-08-10 |title=Satellite view : Caloola · New South Wales 2795, Australia |url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/Caloola+NSW+2795,+Australia/@-33.6038863,149.4219867,3704m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x6b11be3b3e625149:0x40609b490435e00!8m2!3d-33.6275974!4d149.4229235 |access-date=2022-08-10 |website=Google Maps |language=en}}

Little remains of the village of Caloola. Old roads roughly corresponding to Lanarch and Belmore Streets are still discernible.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Roads in Caloola|url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/33%C2%B036%2713.3%22S+149%C2%B026%2713.6%22E/@-33.6036264,149.4338397,16.22z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d-33.603694!4d149.437111?hl=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-01-04|website=Google maps|language=en}} The Caloola Union Church, and its associated cemetery survive. These are still managed and maintained by a local trust.{{Cite web|last=Design|first=UBC Web|title=Caloola Union Church {{!}} Churches Australia|url=https://www.churchesaustralia.org/list-of-churches/denominations/non-denominational/directory/5747-caloola-union-church-|access-date=2021-01-03|website=www.churchesaustralia.org|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Australian Cemeteries Index - Cemetery 1207 - Caloola Union Church|url=https://austcemindex.com/cemetery.php?id=1207|access-date=2021-01-03|website=austcemindex.com}} The church and the former schoolhouse and teacher's residence were on a local heritage item list in 2014.

{{reflist}}

{{Commons |Category: Caloola, New South Wales | Caloola, New South Wales}}

• [https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-233755196/view Map of the Parish of Lowry, with an inset diagram of the village of Egan (1942)]
• [https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-512788128/view Map of the Parish of Lowry, with an inset diagram of the village of Caloola (1982)]

{{Bathurst Regional}}

Category:Bathurst Regional Council

Category:Mining towns in New South Wales

Category:Ghost towns in New South Wales