Joadja Creek, NSW, Australia
S 34° 24.409 E 150° 13.248
56H E 244540 N 6189232
Joadja Creek is a former kerosene and shale mining town in the Southern Highlands of NSW
Waymark Code: WMQTW8
Location: New South Wales, Australia
Date Posted: 03/28/2016
Views: 3
Joadja was once a bustling town nestled in a valley where miners and their families came to Australia from Scotland to work at Joadja, mining for shale and refining it into its different by-products.
Today Joadja town and valley is of significant cultural heritage. It lays abandoned except for the few folk who come here to see what is left of this beautiful little ghost town. The remnants of its brick cottages, retorts, refinery, sandstone school, school of arts.
A shale seam was discovered here about 1850. The Australian Kerosene Oil and Mineral Company was formed in 1878 to mine the shale and refine it into its different by-products. These products included kerosene, lubricating oils, greases, paraffin wax (for candles) and ingredients for soap.
At its peak Joadja was home to over 1200 people, mostly Scottish immigrants who lived in tough conditions in an isolated valley.
When the mine closed in 1911 the people that lived here moved away. The town, the mine and its equipment were left behind, and now stand as a testament to what took place here all that time ago. Nature is slowly but surely taking Joadja back, climbing over the buildings and working its way into the foundations.
There is also the town cemetery consisting of some 140 burials, yet only a handful of headstones can be seen.
Terrain: 
Parking: S 34° 24.408 E 150° 13.242
Recommended access: S 34° 24.410 E 150° 13.304
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Visit Instructions:
- At least one own photo of the place is required.