Panorama of Gulgong from Church Hill
1872
Glass photonegative
The Empire, 28 May 1872, commented on the temporary nature of buildings in Gulgong.
The shops and public-houses are, for the most part, of a very temporary and unsubstantial character, considered as buildings. A large proportion of them are capable of being removed, piecemeal, and set up again on a new diggings in the event of Gulgong declining in prosperity, and a rush taking place to another field within a day or two's journey.
From the Australian Town and Country Journal , 19 January 1884
THE fame of Gulgong-and the adjacent goldfields of Tallewang, Home Rule, Canadian, and Diamond mines, 12 years ago, was bruited all over the world. In those days HerbertStreet was fully two miles long, and was one of the noisiest and most bustling thoroughfares in Her Majesty's Australian dominions. No fewer than 62 hotels represented the regular trade in the groggery Interest, while the irregular, unauthorized trade in this line baffles all calculation now, even as it baffled all scrutiny then... Loose morals and licentious living were the order of the day. The clergy were powerless to stem the tide, and the police barely contrived to maintain a semblance of outward order. Frightful traditions still survive in connection with the lower groggeries and dancing saloons. They were very hells upon earth. [Australian Town and Country Journal , 19 January 1884, p22]
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