Molong

The name Molong comes from the Aboriginal word for 'all rocks'.{{NSW GNR|id=anQlFxWAMa|title=Molong|accessdate=31 October 2009}}

William Lee of Kelso is said to have had cattle in the area by 1819. He later held property just north of present Molong, around Larras Lee. In 1826, a military and police outpost was established at Molong, on Governor Darling's orders, as a step in opening up the government stock reserve west of the Macquarie River for settlement. For its first twenty years the settlement was at a site approximately {{convert|1.5|km|mi|abbr=on}} east of the current location. The present village of Molong was officially gazetted in March 1849.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230365263 |title=MOLONG. |newspaper=New South Wales Government Gazette |issue=44 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=30 March 1849 |accessdate=30 April 2019 |page=558 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite web |title=Molong - Gold Trails |url=https://www.goldtrails.com.au/article/molong/ |publisher=Gold Trails Inc |accessdate=30 April 2019}} In 1845, Copper was discovered at Copper Hill, just north of the town.

The Historical Museum is housed in a former hotel (1856), built by rubble-mason James Mortal, who sold it in 1861 to John Smith of Gamboola. Smith let the building to a series of publicans and it later became the residence and surgery for a series of doctors. The Historical Society acquired it for use as a museum, in 1969, with help from the Molong Shire Council.

In 1885, a railway line was linked through Molong.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

In November 2022 many of the town's buildings were damaged in a flood.{{cite news |last1=Rachwani |first1=Mostafa |last2=Connick |first2=Fleur |title=‘Like an ocean’: Molong devastated by deluge with more NSW towns hit with fresh flooding |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/nov/14/like-an-ocean-molong-devastated-by-deluge-with-more-nsw-towns-hit-with-fresh-flooding |access-date=11 June 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=14 November 2022}}

Molong has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

• Main Western railway: Molong railway station{{cite NSW SHR|5012108|Molong Railway Station and yard group|hr=01196|accessdate=18 May 2018}}
• {{convert|3|km|mi|abbr=on}} SE of Molong Yuranigh Road: Grave of Yuranigh{{cite NSW SHR|5051559|Grave of Yuranigh|hr=01713|accessdate=18 May 2018}}

Molong is located on the Mitchell Highway about {{convert|300|km|mi}} west of Sydney and about {{convert|30|km|mi}} from the city of Orange, and an elevation of 529 metres above sea level. At the {{CensusAU|2021}}, Molong had a population of 1,621 people.{{ Census 2021 AUS|id=UCL115105|name=Molong (urban centre and locality)|accessdate=20 May 2024|quick=on }} Charles Sturt visited Molong in 1828. Molong was the site of an early copper mine in Australia, located at Copper Hill just outside Molong.

The railway from Sydney reached Molong in 1886; it was later extended to Parkes.{{cite web |publisher=www.nswrail.net |title=Broken Hill Line |url=http://www.nswrail.net/lines/show.php?name=NSW:broken_hill |accessdate=20 January 2007}} A branch railway to Dubbo was opened in 1925 and closed in 1987.{{cite web| publisher=www.nswrail.net |title=Molong - Dubbo Line |url=http://www.nswrail.net/lines/show.php?name=NSW:molong_dubbo |accessdate=20 January 2007}}

Despite Molong's elevation, it still manages to have a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) due to its northern latitude, having warm to hot summers and cool to cold winters with the odd snowfall. While mean temperatures have been recorded since 1907 at the site, extreme temperature records are found only between 1957 and 1975.

Perhaps the most extreme weather event to have affected Molong since European settlement was the snowfall on 5 July 1900, having fallen to a depth of {{convert|1|ft|3|inches|cm|abbr=on}} in town, with snow drifts in some areas reported to an exceptional depth of {{convert|11|ft|m|abbr=on}}.{{ cite web | url=http://www.australianweathernews.com/snow/Russell_RainEtc_NSW_1900.pdf | title=5 July 1900 Snowstorm}}{{ cite web | url=https://historyparkes.org/2017/06/16/snow-in-parkes-shire/ | title=Snow in Parkes Shire| date=16 June 2017}}

{{Weather box

|location = Molong (Hill St, 1907–1975, rainfall 1884–2022); 565 m AMSL; 33.09° S, 148.86° E

|metric first = Yes

|single line = Yes

|collapsed =

|Jan record high C = 42.3

|Feb record high C = 40.0

|Mar record high C = 37.8

|Apr record high C = 32.8

|May record high C = 27.2

|Jun record high C = 23.3

|Jul record high C = 21.7

|Aug record high C = 25.7

|Sep record high C = 32.8

|Oct record high C = 33.9

|Nov record high C = 37.8

|Dec record high C = 40.3

|Jan high C = 31.0

|Feb high C = 30.1

|Mar high C = 27.5

|Apr high C = 22.5

|May high C = 17.4

|Jun high C = 14.0

|Jul high C = 12.9

|Aug high C = 14.7

|Sep high C = 18.6

|Oct high C = 22.6

|Nov high C = 26.4

|Dec high C = 29.5

|Jan low C = 13.3

|Feb low C = 13.2

|Mar low C = 10.3

|Apr low C = 6.0

|May low C = 2.8

|Jun low C = 0.9

|Jul low C = -0.1

|Aug low C = 0.6

|Sep low C = 2.4

|Oct low C = 5.4

|Nov low C = 8.4

|Dec low C = 11.4

|Jan record low C = 3.4

|Feb record low C = 2.2

|Mar record low C = 0.6

|Apr record low C = -2.9

|May record low C = -6.7

|Jun record low C = -7.8

|Jul record low C = -8.8

|Aug record low C = -7.2

|Sep record low C = -4.4

|Oct record low C = -4.4

|Nov record low C = -0.6

|Dec record low C = 1.7

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm = 69.8

|Feb precipitation mm = 57.0

|Mar precipitation mm = 58.2

|Apr precipitation mm = 51.4

|May precipitation mm = 52.3

|Jun precipitation mm = 59.9

|Jul precipitation mm = 59.4

|Aug precipitation mm = 61.5

|Sep precipitation mm = 54.0

|Oct precipitation mm = 58.4

|Nov precipitation mm = 60.6

|Dec precipitation mm = 64.1

|year precipitation mm = 707.7

|unit precipitation days = 0.2 mm

|Jan precipitation days = 6.6

|Feb precipitation days = 5.7

|Mar precipitation days = 5.7

|Apr precipitation days = 5.4

|May precipitation days = 7.3

|Jun precipitation days = 9.6

|Jul precipitation days = 10.4

|Aug precipitation days = 9.5

|Sep precipitation days = 8.2

|Oct precipitation days = 7.9

|Nov precipitation days = 6.8

|Dec precipitation days = 6.5

|source 1 = Australian Bureau of Meteorology{{cite web |url=http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_065023_All.shtml |title=Molong (Hill Street) |publisher= Australian Bureau of Meteorology |access-date=28 November 2024 }}

}}

{{Historical populations

|type= Australia

|1921|1503

|1933|1531

|1947|1662

|1954|1791

|1961|1655

|1966|1430

|1971|1383

|1976|1504

|1981|1374

|1986|1400

|1991|1563

|1996|1604

|2001|1560

|2006|1569

|2011|1629

|2016|1674

|2021|1621

|source=Australian Bureau of Statistics data.{{cite web |title=Statistics by Catalogue Number |publisher=Australian Bureau of Statistics |url=https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/ViewContent?readform&view=ProductsbyCatalogue&Action=Expand&Num=2.2 |access-date=28 November 2024}}{{cite web |title=Search Census data |publisher=Australian Bureau of Statistics |url=https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/search-by-area |access-date=13 May 2024}}

}}

• Molong Central School
• St Joseph's Catholic Schools

{{reflist}}

{{commons category-inline}}

• [http://www.orange-nsw.com/Molong.html Molong] on the Orange Town & Around website

{{Cabonne Shire}}

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Category:Towns in New South Wales

Category:Towns in the Central West (New South Wales)

Category:Cabonne Council

Category:Mining towns in New South Wales