Yerranderie facts for kids

General view of Yerranderie, a quiet ghost town.

Yerranderie is a fascinating ghost town in New South Wales, Australia. It's located near the beautiful Kanangra-Boyd National Park in the Wollondilly Shire. A ghost town is a place where most people have left, and it feels like time has stood still.

The Story of Yerranderie

Yerranderie was once a busy silver mining town. About 2,000 people lived and worked here, digging for valuable silver. But in 1927, the silver mining industry stopped, and many people moved away.

Cut Off from the World

In 1959, something big changed Yerranderie forever. The Warragamba Dam was built, creating Lake Burragorang. This lake cut off the town's direct road access from Sydney. It became much harder to reach Yerranderie. A famous country singer, Frank Ifield, even sang about this event in his song "Yerranderie." The town's Post Office, which opened in 1899, closed in 1958, just before the dam was finished.

Getting to Yerranderie Today

Today, Yerranderie is split into two parts. One part is a small residential area with a private airstrip. The other part, about one kilometre west, is the historic site. You can still see old mine shafts and mining equipment scattered around.

Getting to Yerranderie is an adventure! The main way is by a long dirt road from Oberon, New South Wales, which is about 70 kilometres to the west. There's another road from Oakdale, New South Wales to the east, but it's usually closed to the public because it goes through an important water area. Sometimes, small planes also fly into Yerranderie from Camden Airport.

The town was built on the slopes of Yerranderie Peak. This peak is actually what's left of an old volcano, and it's where all the silver was found! The name "Yerranderie" comes from two local Aboriginal words that mean "slope" and "summit."

The Big Strike

Yerranderie was part of a very long workers' strike between 1919 and 1920. It lasted for 18 months, which was the longest strike in the world at that time! The miners in Yerranderie belonged to the same union as the miners in Broken Hill. When the Broken Hill miners went on strike, the Yerranderie workers had to join them, even though the strike wasn't about any problems in Yerranderie itself.

A New Beginning

Later, a woman named Valerie Anne Lhuede bought the town. She worked hard to turn Yerranderie into a place for tourists and a special "total environment project." The old post office is now a guest house called The Lodge. Other old buildings, like two miners' cottages and several shops, have also been fixed up. The people who look after the town live in a nearby place called Krubi Cottage.

In 2011, Valerie Anne Lhuede announced that she was giving Yerranderie to the National Parks and Wildlife Service. She also shared her hopes for the town's future, wanting it to be protected and enjoyed by many.

Images for kids

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  Yerranderie from the air

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  The old church in Yerranderie

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  Ruins of an old home in Yerranderie

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  More ruins found in Yerranderie

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  Yerranderie Peak, where the silver was found