Curio

State Library of New South Wales
Carcoar Hotel and the Public School in Belubula Street, Carcoar

Carcoar Hotel and the Public School in Belubula Street, Carcoar

1873
Glass photonegative

Beaufoy Merlin’s photographic perambulations between Dubbo and Bathurst led him to Carcoar on the road to Cowra. His photographic van is parked at the foot of the slope opposite the Carcoar Hotel and the Public School in Belubula Street. The Sydney Morning Herald 26 February 1876 described Carcoar as 'one of the oldest and, for its size, wealthiest inland towns in the colony. During the past two months its inhabitants have been benefited considerably by the great influx of population to this gold-field, but ordinarily the place is exceedingly quiet and monotonous.

From the Australian Town and Country Journal, 1 November 1884

PRETTILY situated as is this quiet little town snugly ensconced in a nook among the hills that rise on every Bide, it bears a pleasant resemblance to an English country village, which effect is heightened by the numerous hedges that grow around many of the paddocks, the sweetbriar taking so kindly to the soil as to have overrun several fields. There are weeping willows planted in various places on the banks of the Belubula River, which runs through the town, lending an additional touch of picturesque effect to the place... [Australian Town and Country Journal, 1 November 1884, p28]