Where is Molong!

According to a recent report in the Sydney Morning Herald there were officially three Molongs - East Molong, West Molong and Molong but now there is only one. The truth is: the town of Molong consists of what is known by the locals as West Molong and East Molong. West Molong consists of the main part of town and an area known as Westend. East Molong was where the township grew from and was originally on a crown grant given to the Marsden family, the land is naturally to the east of West Molong. Molong has approximately 1600 people at the last official count. The nearest city is Orange which is approximately 34 Km (22 miles) east of Molong.

Molong, the Wiradjuri people's "place of many rocks" was occupied by European settlers in the 1820's when a staging camp and government stockade was established. By 1822 Molong was a place for men and stock to rest on their way to the convict settlement at Wellington.

The Molong Creek formed part of the "limit of location", the boundary of the nineteen counties, beyond which it was illegal to settle. Thus, Molong began on what is now East Molong between the Sale Yards and Molong Creek, opposite from the property "Gamboola".

In 1826 William Lee, then of "Claremont," Kelso, received a grant at what is still "Larras Lake". The Reverend Samuel Marsden and his daughters were granted land which joined William Lees' grant. These grants covered the area East of the Molong Creek from Larras Lake near Larras Lee to East Molong.

Mary Marsden's grant was called "Vale Head" and after she married John Betts, they built the homestead known as "The Roundhouse" somewhere between 1835 and 1839. By 1846 copper was being mined 3 km north of Molong at Copper Hill. Miners were contracted from Cornwall, England to extract the copper. Many miners left the area in 1851 after the discovery of gold at Ophir near Orange.

The first land sales took place in 1856 and this marked the beginnings of the development of the present township of Molong. For a current tour of the area visit the Fairfax Walkabout web page.

Molong township is located in the County of Ashburnham.The local government area is now named Cabonne Council. It is a combination of the old Molong, Amaroo, Boree and Canobolas Shire Councils. The word Cabonne means 'large'.