In Camden NSW the former Foresters’ Hall occupies one of the most prominent sites in the Town Centre on Oxley Street and Argyle Street at 147 Argyle Street. On its opening in 1908, the hall was considered the best in New South Wales by the Order of Royal Foresters.
Category: History
The former Bank of New South Wales building in the country town of Camden
In central Camden is an empty bank building of understated significance at the intersection of John and Argyle Streets. This building was the premises of Westpac, formerly the Bank of New South Wales, and was the second banking chamber on that site. Constructed in the 1930s by a prominent firm of local builders and designed by one of Sydney’s top award-winning architects. It is a building of much architectural merit, and few know its history.
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The Cowpastures Bicentennial, Governor Hunter and the Appin Massacre: the memory of the Cowpastures
I often wondered why the cultural material representative of the Cowpastures appeared to have been 'forgotten' by our community. The list of cultural items is quite an extensive include: roads and bridges, parks and reserves; historic sites, books, paintings, articles; conferences, seminars, and workshops; monuments, memorials and murals; community commemorations, celebrations and anniversaries.
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St Mark’s Church Elderslie, the little church on the hill
St Mark's Church Elderslie tells the story of a small farming community that has disappeared through the mists of time. The history of St Mark’s church is the history of Elderslie, and the church was a special place of community celebrations and commemorations along with family celebrations, traditions, and events. The church has been a gathering place, a sacred site.
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Camden, a Macarthur family venture
The establishment of Camden, New South Wales, the town in 1840, was a private venture of James and William Macarthur, sons of colonial patriarch John Macarthur, at the Nepean River crossing on the northern edge of the family’s pastoral property of Camden Park. The town’s site was enclosed on three sides by a sweeping bend in the Nepean River and has regularly flooded the surrounding farmland and lower parts of the town.
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Cowpastures’ memories in monuments, memorials and murals.
Many memorials and monuments across the Cowpastures landscape commemorate its history and sense of place, with a recent nostalgic turn focusing on the pioneers and European settlement. War memorials are a ubiquitous form of memorialization in the Macarthur region, and public art, historical sites, and cultural heritage also play significant roles. These commemorations can be controversial, especially considering Australia's dark history, and evoke different memories for different people. Additionally, the landscape of the Cowpastures is interpreted in various ways, including as a colonial frontier, government reserve, and English-style landscape. Various memorials, artworks, and historic sites dot the region, contributing to its identity and history.
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A Camden connection to the first railway line in New South Wales
26 September 1855 A forgotten anniversary of Sydney’s Central Railway Station On 26 September 1855, the first train left the Sydney terminus, a ‘tin shed’, with great pomp and ceremony and thus began the great railways of New South Wales. The ‘tin shed’ was replaced by two further buildings, one opened in 1874, and the current grand Victorian edifice of brick and sandstone in 1906.
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Cowpastures Memorial at Narellan
In the plaza outside Narellan Library there is an item public art called the Cowpasture Story.
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Governor Hunter, a Cowpastures memorial at Mount Annan
The statue of Governor Hunter in the Governors Green Park at Mount Annan is another celebration of the history of the Cowpastures.
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Political propaganda in 1932
The Starvation Debenture produced by the United Country Party is an example of political advertising from the 1932 New South Wales election.
