Picton, New South Wales

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Picton
New South Wales

Population:

2,924

Established:

1841

Postcode:

2571

Elevation:

165 m (541 ft)

Location:

80 km (50 mi) from Sydney

LGA:

Wollondilly Shire Council

State District:

Wollondilly (2004 boundaries)

Federal Division:

Macarthur

Mean Max Temp	Mean Min Temp	Rainfall
23.5 °C ^{74 °F}	8.8 °C ^{48 °F}	803.6 mm ^{31.6 in}

Picton is a small town (2,924 in 2,001^[1]) in New South Wales, Australia, in the Wollondilly region in foothills of the Southern Highlands, 80 kilometres south west of Sydney. It is also the main town and administrative centre of Wollondilly Shire.

1 History
2 Attractions
3 Transport
4 Pop Culture
5 References

[edit] History

Picton was first explored by Europeans in 1798 and remained beyond the limits of legal settlement until 1821. Following the discovery of good land in the interior and the settlement of Bong Bong (Southern Highlands) and the Goulburn areas, Governor Macquarie authorised the building of the new Great South Road between Sydney and the Southern Highlands in 1819.^[2] This opened up the Picton area to settlers, including Henry Colden Antill,^[3] who established a 2,000-acre (8.1 km²) property in 1822.^[2]

Picton developed when a new line of the Great South Road was cut over the Razorback Range from Camden, and especially after the railway arrived in 1863. Picton is the only town in the Southern Hemisphere where you can pass through it twice when travelling by train.^[4] It was established as Stonequarry in 1841 and was renamed Picton in 1845. It remained a stopping point on the Great South Road, later renamed the Hume Highway, until it was bypassed in the 1970s.

Bushfires destroyed several homes in the Nangarin Estate located on the Eastern outskirts of Picton, from a fire front originating from Lakesland in September 2006.^[5]

[edit] Attractions

Picton is home to many historic buildings, including two types of bridges not found easily anymore elsewhere in the state - Victoria Bridge a timber trestle bridge that crosses Stonequarry Creek, opened in 1897, and the 'Picton Railway Viaduct' a stone viaduct opened in 1863 to also cross Stonequarry Creek. The viaduct is still in use by the railways.

Ghost tours are conducted in Picton. Many local residents and visitors claim^{[citation needed]} they have experienced paranormal activity in some of the historic buildings and inside the disused railway tunnel on Redbank Range. The abandoned tunnel was used to store mustard gas spray tanks during World War II ^[6].

The largest^{[citation needed]} skydiving dropzone called Sydney Skydivers is located just outside of Picton. Many of the skydivers venture into Picton's restaurant and pubs boosting the local economy.

[edit] Transport

Picton railway station is on the Southern Highlands line with a relatively infrequent service with trains running every 1.5 - 2 hours.

[edit] Pop Culture

In October 2007, radio station Nova 96.9's Merrick and Rosso programme played a parody song called "The Picton song" which depicted Picton teenagers as promiscuous and engaging in underage sex in an attempt to get pregnant and claim the Australian Government's baby bonus scheme. This caused community outrage and many residents rang the station and complained.^{[citation needed]}