Picton, New South Wales

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Picton is a small town (3604 in 1996) in New South Wales, Australia, in the Wollondilly region in foothills of the Southern Highlands, 80 kilometres south west of Sydney. It is also the main town and administrative centre of Wollondilly Shire.

It has a station on the Southern Highlands line with a relatively infrequent service with trains running every 1.5 - 2 hours.

[edit] History

Picton was first explored by Europeans in 1798 and remained beyond the limits of legal settlement until 1821. The discovery of good land in the interior and the settlement of Bong Bong (Southern Highlands) and the Goulburn areas also led to the settlement of the Picton area.

It was originally known as Stonequarry (it became Picton in 1841) and was on the new Great South Road connecting Sydney and the Southern Highlands. Picton developed when a new line of the Great South Road was cut over the Razorback Range from Camden, and especially after the railway arrived in 1863. ^[1].

Bushfires destroyed several homes in the town in September 2006.^[2]

[edit] Attractions

Picton is home to many historic buildings, including two types of bridges not found easily anymore elsewhere in the state - Victoria Bridge a timber trestle bridge that crosses Stonequarry Creek, opened in 1897, and the Picton Railway Viaduct a stone viaduct opened in 1863 to also cross Stonequarry Creek. The viaduct is still in use by the railways.

The founder, Antill, settled in search for crown land and farming land away from [1]. ^[3]

In recent years Picton has become famous for the ghost tours conducted in the town. Many local residents and visitors claim they have experienced paranormal activity in some of the historic buildings and inside the disused railway tunnel on Redbank Range.