Kandos a Rare 20th Century Town
A timber railway station at Rylstone is a conundrum. All other stations on the line, large and small, were brick: Piper’s Flat, Ben Bullen, Capertee, Clandulla, Lue, Wallerawang and Mudgee. Most of the public buildings in Rylstone were built of stone.
Henbury has survived for ninety years on the sweat of its volunteers.
According to the Mudgee Guardian Kandos Stores had “a distinct air of progressiveness”. Double-fronted, two-story, with overhead balcony and paved entrance, it was built with CCCs locally manufactured ash and cement concrete blocks, 9 inches by 18 inches.
A copper industry would add to the industrial impact of Kandos, increase the workforce by 90, grow the town and make it more commercially viable. What’s not to like?
The Greeks in Australia learnt by osmosis that a café was a good way to earn a living and give them financial security – a café, that is, that served Australian cuisine, not Greek.
Concerns were raised which led to an archaeological survey. It revealed the fragile remains of the first government house - the only in situ remains from the first year of British settlement.
The Depression had a devastating impact on Kandos property. At the second mortgagee sale in 1934 seven “fine” Kandos properties sold for a total of £135 (one property worth an estimated £800).
Kandos History 