From 1938, the town became the centre of an oil shale industry and housed over 2000 people at it's height. However, the township was almost completely abandoned in 1952 because shale oil was not viable in a non-war, non-government supported economic environment. After the closure of the oil shale mine, the skeleton of a town survived in the form of some properties, a post office (that is now closed) and a shop or two that survived intermittently. Now the shops are closed too.
The creation of the Wollemi National Park has brought a degree of tourism to the area, especially attracting birders like me who can see an unusually high number of species here. That's what attracted me here in 2007 but this time I was on a mission to photograph the old, abandoned shale mine.
